Etymology

pollute

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Today it means: To make something harmful, especially by the addition of some unwanted product. Full definition →

Middle English polluten ← Latin pollūtum
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frompollūtum
  2. Middle English · inherited frompolluten
  3. English todaypollute

From Middle English polluten, borrowed from Latin pollūtum, from pollūtus (“no longer virgin", "unchaste”), perfect passive participle of polluō (“soil", "defile", "dishonor”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.