different between sully vs smudge

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

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /sm?d?/
• Rhymes: -?d?

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Chambers 1908: "Swedish smuts dirt, Danish smuds smut, German Schmutz"”)

Noun

smudge (countable and uncountable, plural smudges)

1. A blemish or smear, especially a dark or sooty one.

2. Dense smoke, such as that used for fumigation.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Grose to this entry?)

3. (US) A heap of damp combustibles partially ignited and burning slowly, placed on the windward side of a house, tent, etc. to keep off mosquitoes or other insects.
4. (paganism, especially in the phrase "smudge stick" = "stick of incense") A quantity of herbs used in suffumigation.

Synonyms

• (blemish, smear): blur, smear, stain

Derived terms

• smudge attack

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English smogen.

Verb

smudge (third-person singular simple present smudges, present participle smudging, simple past and past participle smudged)

1. To obscure by blurring; to smear.
2. To soil or smear with dirt.
3. To use dense smoke to protect from insects.
4. To stifle or smother with smoke.
5. (paganism, intransitive) To burn herbs as a cleansing ritual (suffumigation).
6. (paganism, transitive) To subject to ritual burning of herbs (suffumigation, smudging).
   • 2013, Rachel Patterson, Pagan Portals - Hoodoo: Folk Magic ?ISBN:

     This is easily done using incense to smudge yourself or taking a cleansing bath. To smudge your body use an incense mixture such as sandalwood, lavender, frankincense or myrrh.

Synonyms

• (to obscure by blurring): blur, smear
• (to soil or smear with dirt): smutch, soil
• (to use smoke against insects): fumigate

Translations

Related terms

• smudgily
• smudginess
• smudgy

Anagrams

• Mudges, degums, mudges