Etymology

besmirch

B3E1S1M3I1R1C3H4

Today it means: To make dirty. Full definition →

Middle English besmorchen
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited frombesmorchen
  2. English todaybesmirch

From Middle English besmorchen (attested in besmorchid). Compare Middle English bismotered (“bespattered, soiled”). By surface analysis, be- + smirch.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.