Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of sully

sully(v.)

"to soil, stain, tarnish, defile," 1570s (implied in sullied), probably from French souiller "to soil," also figurative, of moral defilement, from Old French soillier "make dirty" (see soil (v.)).

It probably was influenced by or conflated with Middle English sulen "become dirty," from Old English sylian "defile, bemire." Related: Sullying.

also from 1570s

Entries linking to sully

soil(v.)

early 13c., "to defile or pollute with sin," from Old French soillier "to splatter with mud, to foul or make dirty," originally "to wallow" (12c., Modern French souillier), from souil "tub, wild boar's wallow, pigsty," which is from Latin solium "tub for bathing; seat" (from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit") or else from Latin suculus "little pig," from sus "pig." The literal meaning "to make dirty on the surface, begrime" is attested from c. 1300 in English. Related: Soiled; soiling.

unsullied(adj.)

"not stained or tarnished," 1580s, from un- (1) "not" + past participle of sully (v.).

    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Trends of sully

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    defame
    "speak evil of, maliciously speak or write what injures the reputation of," c. 1300, from Old French defamer (13c., Modern French diffamer), from Medieval Latin defamare, from Latin diffamare "to spread abroad by ill report, make a scandal of," from dis-, here probably suggestive
    slander
    late 13c., sclaundre, "state of impaired reputation; disgrace or dishonor;" c. 1300, "a false tale or report spread maliciously; the fabrication and dissemination of false tales to discredit someone," from Anglo-French esclaundre, Old French esclandre "scandalous statement," alte
    smirch
    late 15c., smorchen, "to discolor, to make dirty" (also compare bismorched, mid-15c.), a word of uncertain origin, perhaps (OED) from Old French esmorcher "to torture," which is perhaps also "befoul, stain," from es- "out" (see ex-) + morcher "to bite," from Latin morsus, past pa
    spot
    mid-13c., spoten, "to mark or stain with spots" (implied in spotted); late 14c. as "to stain, sully, tarnish," from spot...
    stain
    The figurative meaning "soil or sully with guilt or infamy" is from early 15c....
    meliorism
    ["George Eliot," letter to James Sully, Jan. 19, 1877]...
    sensitive
    [James Sully, "Outlines of Psychology," 1884] The mechanical meaning "so delicately adjusted as to respond quickly to very...
    traduce
    1530s, "alter, change over, transport," from Latin traducere "change over, convert," also "lead in parade, make a show of, dishonor, disgrace," originally "lead along or across, bring through, transfer" (source also of French traduire, Spanish traducir, Italian tradurre), from tr
    educrat
    "officer, administrator, or other bureaucrat in a school system," 1968, usually pejorative, "a word that suggests overpaid, underworked and generally useless paper-pushers shielded by a cushion of taxpayer-funded job security" ["Houston Chronicle," Jan. 26, 2017]. The first eleme
    darken
    c. 1300, derken, "to make dark or darker, deprive of light;" early 14c. (intransitive), "to grow or become dark," from dark (adj.) + -en (1). The more usual verb in Middle English in both senses was simply dark, as it is in Chaucer and Shakespeare, and darken did not predominate

    Share sully

    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Trending
    Dictionary entries near sully
    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.