noun
Meaning 1
Human faeces.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, euphemistic, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Phrase guide
night soil
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
Meaning 2
human excreta used as fertilizer
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: manure
History
Etymology
At least notionally because such soil was removed at night by nightmen, and because chamberpots were needed especially at night (when one, in one's nightgown, might be less disposed to leave the house for the outhouse); but the general taboo around human excrement encourages euphemism, and any word in the allusive range of the night–dark–black–bad archetypes might serve as well as another for the purpose; thus, compare blackwater.
Across languages
Translations
9 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Chinese Cantonese: 夜香 (je6 hoeng1) — human faeces
- Chinese Cantonese: 夜來香 /夜来香 (je6 loi4 hoeng1) — human faeces
- Chinese Mandarin: 糞便 /粪便 (fènbiàn) — human faeces
- Finnish: uloste — human faeces
- Polish: fekalia — human faeces
- Polish: kał — human faeces
- Polish: odchody — human faeces
- Polish: ekskrementy — human faeces
- Russian: ночно́е зо́лото (nočnóje zóloto) — human faeces