night soil

noun

Human faeces; especially, such waste as has recently been added to an outhouse or dry closet and will need removal.

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Meanings

nounnight soil (uncountable)

alternative night-soil · alternative nightsoil

  1. archaiceuphemisticuncountableHuman faeces; especially, such waste as has recently been added to an outhouse or dry closet and will need removal.

    Time for the local night soil man to appear. He left the inn to find the night man who serviced the place.

    2017, Jennifer Taylor, Echoes of the Moon, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    There, the night soil along with the community refuse is filled in trenches for composting and subsequent use in agriculture.

    1977, Hillel I. Shuval, Water Renovation and Reuse, →ISBN

    The flow of nitrogen from night-soil in rural China is valuable, whereas human excrement in an urban center is a pollution problem.

    2006, Mario Giampietro et al., “Can Biofuels replace Fossil Energy Fuels?”, in International Journal of Transdisciplinary Research, volume 1, number 1, page 58

Origin

At least notionally because such soil was removed at night by nightmen, and because chamberpots were needed especially at night (when one, in one's nightgown, might be less disposed to leave the house for the outhouse); but the general taboo around human excrement encourages euphemism, and any word in the allusive range of the night–dark–black–bad archetypes might serve as well as another for the purpose; thus, compare blackwater.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 夜香, 夜來香 /夜来香
  • 夜香 (je⁶ hoeng¹)human faeces
  • 夜來香 /夜来香 (je⁶ loi⁴ hoeng¹)human faeces
Chinese Mandarin 糞便 /粪便
  • 糞便 /粪便 (fènbiàn)human faeces
Finnish uloste
  • ulostehuman faeces
Polish kał, fekalia
  • kałhuman faeces
  • fekaliahuman faeces
  • odchodyhuman faeces
  • ekskrementyhuman faeces
Russian ночно́е зо́лото
  • ночно́е зо́лото (nočnóje zóloto)human faeces
Cite this entry
APA

night soil. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/night%20soil

MLA

“night soil.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/night%20soil. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “night soil,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/night%20soil.

Source: night soil on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.