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Soiling

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soil

2[soil]
–verb (used with object)
1. to make unclean, dirty, or filthy, esp. on the surface: to soil one's clothes.
2. to smirch, smudge, or stain: The ink soiled his hands.
3. to sully or tarnish, as with disgrace; defile morally: to soil one's good name.
–verb (used without object)
4. to become soiled: White soils easily.
–noun
5. the act or fact of soiling.
6. the state of being soiled.
7. a spot, mark, or stain.
8. dirty or foul matter; filth; sewage.
9. ordure; manure.

Origin:
1175–1225; ME soilen (v.) < OF souiller, soillier to dirty < VL *suculāre, equiv. to (s) pig + -cul(us) -cle 1 + -āre inf. ending


3. blacken, taint, debase.

soil

3[soil]
–verb (used with object)
to feed (confined cattle, horses, etc.) freshly cut green fodder for roughage.

Origin:
1595–1605; orig. uncert.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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soil 2   (soil)   
v.   soiled, soil·ing, soils

v.   tr.
  1. To make dirty, particularly on the surface.

  2. To disgrace; tarnish: a reputation soiled by scandal.

  3. To corrupt; defile.

  4. To dirty with excrement.

v.   intr.
To become dirty, stained, or tarnished.
n.  
    1. The state of being soiled.

    2. A stain.

  1. Filth, sewage, or refuse.

  2. Manure, especially human excrement, used as fertilizer.


[Middle English soilen, from Old French souiller, from Vulgar Latin *suculāre (from Late Latin suculus, diminutive of Latin sūs, pig; see sū- in Indo-European roots) or from souil, pigsty, wallow (from Latin solium, seat; see soil1).]
soil 3   (soil)   
tr.v.   soiled, soil·ing, soils
  1. To feed (livestock) with soilage.

  2. To purge (livestock) by feeding with green food.


[Origin unknown.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

soil

Material on the surface of the Earth on which plants can grow. (See topsoil.)

Note: Soil is produced by the weathering of rocks.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

soil  (v.)
c.1225, "to defile or pollute with sin," from O.Fr. souillier "to foul or make dirty," originally "to wallow," from souil "tub, wild boar's wallow, pigsty," either from L. solium "tub for bathing, seat," or from L. suculus "little pig," from sus "pig." Meaning "to make dirty, begrime" is attested from c.1297. This is the sense of the noun in archaic night-soil.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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