different between expunge vs sully

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin expungere, present active infinitive of expungo, from ex + pungo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ks.?p?nd?/
• Rhymes: -?nd?

Verb

expunge (third-person singular simple present expunges, present participle expunging, simple past and past participle expunged)

1. (transitive) To erase or strike out.
2. (transitive) To eliminate completely; annihilate.
3. (transitive, computing) To delete permanently (e-mail etc.) that was previously marked for deletion but still stored.

Derived terms

Translations

Latin

Verb

expunge

1. second-person singular present active imperative of expung?

English

Etymology

From Middle English sulen, sulien (“to become dirty; to defile, pollute, taint”), from Old English sylian (“to soil, pollute; to sully”), from Proto-Germanic *suliw?n?, *sulw?n?, *sulwijan? (“to make dirty; to sully”), from Proto-Indo-European *s?l- (“thick liquid, muck”), perhaps conflated partially with Old French souillier (“to soil”) (modern French souiller) from the same Germanic source. The word is cognate with Danish søle (“to sully”), Dutch zaluwen (“to sully”) (Middle Dutch saluwen (“to sully”)), German sühlen (“to sully”), Old Saxon sulian (“to sully”), Swedish söla (“to sully”). Also compare Middle English sulpen (“to defile, pollute”), Old English solian (“to soil, become defiled, make or become foul”), and see more at soil.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /?s?li/
• Rhymes: -?li
• Hyphenation: sul?ly

Verb

sully (third-person singular simple present sullies, present participle sullying, simple past and past participle sullied)

1. (transitive) To soil or stain; to dirty.

   Synonym: (obsolete) sowl
2. (transitive) To corrupt or damage.
3. (intransitive, ergative) To become soiled or tarnished.

Alternative forms

• sullow

Coordinate terms

• (to corrupt or damage): besmirch, debase, stain, tarnish

Derived terms

• besully
• unsullied
• unsully

Translations

Noun

sully (plural sullies)

1. (rare, obsolete) A blemish.

References