▪ I. filth, n.
(fɪlθ)
Forms: 1 f{yacu}lþ, 2–4 felðe, 4 south. veolthe, 5 felthe, 3–4 fulðe, 3–6 fylth(e, (3 fuylþe, 6 faylt, fylt), 3–5 filthe, 3– filth.
[OE. f{yacu}lð str. fem. = OS. fûlitha (Du. vuilte), OHG. fûlida:—OTeut. *fûliþâ, n. of quality f. *fûlo- foul a.]
† 1. The quality or state of being foul; a filthy state or condition; filthiness; in pl. foul treatment, indignities. Obs.
| c 1300 K. Alis. 6370 Veolthe loveth al heore lynage. 1481 Caxton Godfrey 304 What fylthes the turkes made them to suffre. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 38 The Lacedemonians were wont to shewe their children dronken men..that by seing their filth, they might shunne the lyke fault. |
2. concr. Foul matter.
† a. Putrid matter, corruption, rottenness; in later use, purulent matter, pus.
Obs.| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxiii. 27 Ant hiᵹ synt innan fulle deadra bana, and ealre fylðe [1160 Hatton felðe]. a 1050 Liber Scintill. viii. (1889) 38 Þænne fylð [putredo] seo þe innan wealð byþ utaworpen to hæle sar byð ᵹeopenud. c 1430 Life St. Kath. (1884) 49 Þe temporal kyng..whiche ys now proude in hys power and to-morwe schal be fylthe and wormes. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 240 b, He scraped y⊇ stynkyng fylth & corrupcyon of her deed body. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 11 To draw the fylt out of the head. 1696 Pechy tr. Sydenham's Wks. iii. ii. 116 The Inflammation which the Small-Pox has impressed upon the Blood..no less indicates Blood-letting than the filth [L. colluvies] which has been gathered together does Purging. |
b. Uncleanly matter, dirt. Now only in stronger sense, expressing violent disgust: Loathsome dirt. Rarely in
pl. filth of various kinds, filthy matters.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 191/52 Þare feol out of eiþer eiȝe Fuylþe ase þei it were slym. a 1300 Cursor M. 22397 (Cott.) All þe filthes of his maugh sal brist vte. c 1340 Ibid. 468 (Trin.) In þat court þat is so clene No fulþe may dwelle ne be sene. c 1430 Lydg. in Turner Dom. Archit. III. 39 Voydynge fylthes lowe into the grounde. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 161/1 Fylthe of mannys nose, snotte, polipus. 1555 Nottingham Rec. IV. 109 He..swffares mwke and fylthe to be powered yn y⊇ hy strett. 1626 Bacon Sylva §397 Waters..found in Rising Grounds of great Cities..must needs take in a great deale of Filth. 1721 Strype Eccl. Mem. III. xxii. 180 The Chamber..on one side of which was the Sink and Filth of all the House. 1836 Emerson Nat., Prospects Wks. (Bohn) II. 173 The sordor and filths of nature, the sun shall dry up. 1873 Ouida Pascarel I. 30 A palace with superb staircases reeking in filth. |
c. Vermin (
† formerly
pl.). In
mod. use (?
dial.) restricted to insect parasites.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 61 In that Abbeye ne entrethe not no Flye ne Todes ne Ewtes..For there were wont to ben many suche manere of Filthes. Mod. (Yorks.) A dirty brute, with his head swarming with filth. The currant bushes are covered with filth. |
3. fig. a. Moral defilement, vileness; corruption, pollution; obscenity.
| a 1023 Wulfstan Hom. (Napier) xxxiii. 161 note, To maneᵹe..ane cwenan ᵹemænum ceape bicᵹað..and wið þa ane fylþe adreoᵹaþ an æfter anum. a 1225 Ancr. R. 84 Þe bacbitare..openeð so þet fulðe {thbar} hit stinkeð wide. a 1300 Vox & Wolf 165 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 63 And liuie in fulthe and in sunne. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 299 Þei ben blaunchid wiþ-oute as sepulcris, and wiþ-inne ful of fylþe. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 77 The prince..suffered suche felthe to be done. 1638 Penit. Conf. viii. (1657) 209 The filth of sin is purged by the Laver of tears. a 1704 T. Brown Sat. agst. Woman Wks. 1730 I. 56 Wallowing in all the filth of boundless luxury. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab v. 159 Every slave now dragging through the filth Of some corrupted city his sad life. 1860 Hook Lives Abps. I. v. 226 Forbidding..all the filth of the wicked. |
† b. pl. Moral impurities, corrupt or impure actions, transgressions.
Obs.| c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 131 Holi maiden of þanke, and clane of alle felðes. a 1225 St. Marher. (1862) 3 Biwite thou mi bodi the is al bitahte from fleshliche fulthen. c 1340 Cursor M. 10105 (Trin.) To make me falle in fulþes fele. c 1440 York Myst. xx. 180 All filthes of flesshely synne. 1583 Satir. Poems Reform. xlv. Pref. 60 Compared to swyne returning to the myre, In thair awin filthes to get thair fames defyled. |
c. Foul or obscene language; vile or loathsome imputations.
| 1730 Swift Traulus i. 25 Among the rout He wildly flings his filth about. 1879 Froude Cæsar xv. 237 Instead of scolding and flinging impotent filth. |
4. a. Said of a person: A vile creature; a scoundrel; a slut, drab, whore.
Obs. exc. dial.| c 1350 Will. Palerne 2542 Lest þat foule felþe schuld have hem founde þere. 1402 Hoccleve Letter of Cupid 262 These ladyes..were noon of thoo..but swyche filthes as weren vertulesse. 1565 Harding in Jewel Def. Apol. (1611) 27 Ioan of Kent, that filth..was she a sister of yours? 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. i. 6. 1608 ― Lear (Qo. 1) iv. ii. 39 Filths sauor but themselues. 1612 R. Sheldon Serm. St. Martin's 65 Their filthes lie by their sides to satisfie their abhominable pleasures. 1790 Mrs. Wheeler Westmld. Dial. (1821) 13 Nea yan can bide wie him, an arrant filth! 1869 Lonsdale Gloss., Filth, a disreputable woman, a scoundrel. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus xlii. 13 O ugly filth, detested Trull. |
b. collect. The police.
Criminals' slang.
| 1967 Times 23 Nov. 8/3 ‘It's the filth,’ cried one of the robbers. 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, you Bastard 271 Hurting the filth wasn't easy, not when they were DI's. 1979 J. Wainwright Duty Elsewhere xxxix. 102 He's a big wheel in the filth, Mr Nolan. Y' know{ddd}assistant chief constable and all that. 1982 Observer 15 Aug. 22/5 A ‘face’, or well-known and celebrated criminal, has done a trade with the ‘filth’, or police, to get off a serious crime. |
5. attrib. and
Comb., as
filth-disease,
filth-ferment;
filth-created,
filth-fed,
filth-sodden adjs.| 1852 Dr. Guy in Ld. Ingestre Meliora I. 96 *Filth-created fever and disease. |
| 1885 Science VI. 101/1 Typhoid-fever and other preventable *filth-diseases. |
| 1891 Daily News 5 Oct. 5/5 How..is the *filth-fed oyster to be distinguished? |
| 1891 C. Creighton Hist. Epidemics 589 Spots of soil..so situated in cups of the hills as to retain and multiply the *filth-ferment. |
| 1871 G. H. Napheys Prev. & Cure Dis. i. viii. 264 A *filth-sodden porous earth. |
Hence
ˈfilthless a. [
-less], without filth; undefiled.
ˈfilthous a. [
-ous]
= filthy.
| 14.. Balade in Commend. our Lady 51 (Chaucer's Wks. 1561) Fountain al filthlesse, as birell current clere. 1546 Bale Eng. Votaries ii. (1550) 9 b, And so sent hym forth abrode..to maynteyne all kyndes of ydolatry and fleshly fylthouse lyvynge. |
▪ II. filth, v. Now
poet. [f. prec. n.] trans. To make foul, defile.
| c 1450 Lonelich Grail xliii. 21 Alle blak becomen they..and i-fylthed. 1598 E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 31 Filthing chaste eares with theyr pens Gonorrhey. 1955 W. de la Mare Beginning 211 You merely filthed and made vile the most sacred misfortune. |