Wordwyrt

foulness

/ˈfaʊlnəs/FOWL-nuhs
/ˈfaʊlnəs/FOWL-nuhs

Meaningthe quality of being foul

Common meaning: dirtiness

Other meanings: nastiness

Journey through time

  1. Old EnglishfulsourceB&T
  2. Middle Englishfoulsource
  3. Englishfoul‘dirty, offensive’
  4. Englishformed in English from foulfoulness‘dirtiness’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from foul + -ness.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), FOUL, p.218 · scan

Source words

  • ful Old English · source word “dirty”

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