pollution

CEFRB1

/pəˈljuːʃən/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Harmful substances that make air, water, or land dirty.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Something that pollutes; a pollutant.

Examples

  • Because of the problem of air pollution, the bicycle may some day replace the automobile.

  • Environmental pollution is causing abnormal weather conditions.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /pəˈluːʃən/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings
  1. The desecration of something holy or sacred; defilement, profanation.

  2. Physical contamination, now especially the contamination of the environment by harmful substances, or by disruptive levels of noise, light etc.

  3. Moral or spiritual corruption; impurity, degradation, defilement.

More examples

In context
  • We are taking steps to prevent pollution.

  • Pollution levels are almost always higher in cities rather than the countryside, what with the cars, industry and so on.

  • 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.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The increase in car emissions has led to more blank in the city.

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Nearby

Origin

noun

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”).