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manure

 - 3 dictionary results

ma⋅nure

[muh-noor, -nyoor] noun, verb, -nured, -nur⋅ing.
–noun
1. excrement, esp. of animals, or other refuse used as fertilizer.
2. any natural or artificial substance for fertilizing the soil.
–verb (used with object)
3. to treat (land) with fertilizing matter; apply manure to.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME manouren to till, cultivate < MF manouvrer to do manual work. See maneuver


ma⋅nur⋅er, noun
ma⋅nu⋅ri⋅al, adjective
ma⋅nu⋅ri⋅al⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ma·nure   (mə-nŏŏr', -nyŏŏr')   
n.  Material, especially barnyard or stable dung, often with discarded animal bedding, used to fertilize soil.
tr.v.   ma·nured, ma·nur·ing, ma·nures
To fertilize (soil) by applying material such as barnyard dung.

[From Middle English manuren, to cultivate land, from Anglo-Norman mainouverer, from Vulgar Latin *manūoperāre, to work with the hands : Latin manū, ablative of manus, hand; see man-2 in Indo-European roots + Latin operārī, to work; see op- in Indo-European roots.]
ma·nur'er n., ma·nu'ri·al adj.
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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Word Origin & History

manure  (v.)
c.1400, "to cultivate land," also "to hold property," from Anglo-Fr. meynoverer, from O.Fr. manouvrer "to work with the hands," from M.L. manuoperare, from L. manu operari, from manu, abl. of manus "hand" (see manual) + operari "to work, operate" (see operation). Sense of "work the earth" led to "put dung on the soil" (1599) and to the current noun meaning "dung spread as fertilizer," which is first attested 1549. Until late 18c., however, the verb still was used in a fig. sense of "to cultivate the mind, train the mental powers."
"It is ... his own painfull study ... that manures and improves his ministeriall gifts." [Milton, 1641]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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