noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
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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Received-Pronunciation:/pəˈljuːʃən/
Received-Pronunciation:/pəˈluːʃən/
US:/pəˈluʃən/
UK:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -uːʃən
CMU ARPABET:P AH0 L UW1 SH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Physical contamination, now especially the contamination of the environment by harmful substances, or by disruptive levels of noise, light etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Examples
Pollution levels are almost always higher in cities rather than the countryside, what with the cars, industry and so on.
Narrower terms: biodegradable pollution, nonbiodegradable pollution, air pollution, noise pollution, sound pollution, thermal pollution, water pollution
History
Etymology
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”).
Across languages
Translations
134 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Belarusian:
палю́цыя
(paljúcyja)
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
Bulgarian:
полю́ция
(poljúcija)
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
Czech:
poluce
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
Finnish:
itsesaastutus
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
French:
pollution
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
Georgian:
პოლუცია
(ṗolucia)
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
Hebrew:
שפיכת זרע לבטלה
(shfikhát zéra levatalá)
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
Hungarian:
pollúció
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
Italian:
polluzione
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
Middle English:
pollucioun
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
Portuguese:
polução
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
Russian:
поллю́ция
(polljúcija)
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
Ukrainian:
полю́ція
(poljúcija)
— archaic: emission of semen at other times than in sexual intercourse
