Definition
nounPhysical contamination, now especially the contamination of the environment by harmful substances, or by disruptive levels of noise, light etc.
nounSomething that pollutes; a pollutant.
Sentence Examples
Because of the problem of air pollution, the bicycle may some day replace the automobile.
Environmental pollution is causing abnormal weather conditions.
We are taking steps to prevent pollution.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English pollucioun, pollucion (“desecration, impurity”), from Anglo-Norman pollutiun, Middle French pollution, pollucion, and their source, post-classical Latin pollūtiō (“defilement, desecration; nocturnal emission”) (4th century), from the participial stem of polluō (“to soil, defile, contaminate”), from por- (“before”) + -luō (“to smear”), related to lutum (“mud”) and luēs (“filth”). Compare Ancient Greek λῦμα (lûma, “filth, dirt, disgrace”) and λῦμαξ (lûmax, “rubbish, refuse”), Old Irish loth (“mud, dirt”), Lithuanian lutynas (“pool, puddle”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"If successful, Edison and Ford—in 1914—would move society away from the[…]hazards of gasoline cars: air and water pollution, noise and noxiousness, constant coughing and the undeniable rise in cancers caused by smoke exhaust particulates."
— 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion:
"Schools across the country are moving to ban the school run amid growing concern about the devastating impact of air pollution on young people’s health."
— 2018 July 13, Matthew Taylor, The Guardian:
"Pollution now kills three times as many people worldwide as Aids, tuberculosis and malaria combined."
— 2019, George Monbiot, “Cars are killing us. Within 10 years, we must phase them out”, in Guardian.:
""Flying only looks like a bargain because the cost of pollution is so cheap.""
— 2023 August 9, “Network News: Network rail under fire for spending thousands of pounds on flights”, in RAIL, number 989, page 15:
"Men who attend the Altar, and should most / Endevor Peace: thir strife pollution brings / Upon the Temple it self […]."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book XII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC: