▪ I. soot, n.1
(sʊt)
Forms: α. 1, 4 sot (2 soth), 4–6 sote, 5 swot, 6 swote; 1, 4– soot (1 sooth, 5 soeth), 5–7 soote. β. 6 sooute, sout(e, sowte, 7 sutt, 7, 9 sut; Sc. 6 suit, 6, 8– sute, 9 shute; 9 dial. seut, seeat.
[OE. sót, = MDu. soet, zoet (Du. dial. zoet), NFris. sött, sutt, ON. and Icel. sót (Norw. and Sw. sot, Da. sod), related to Lith. sódis (usually in pl. sód{zacu}ei or sód{zacu}iei).
The pron. (sʌt), formerly common, is mentioned by Smart in 1836 as no longer used ‘by the best speakers’. American dicts. give (suːt) as well as (sʊt).]
1. a. A black carbonaceous substance or deposit consisting of fine particles formed by the combustion of coal, wood, oil, or other fuel.
| α c 725 Corpus Gloss. F 427 Fuligine, sooth. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 356 Meng ðærto sot & sealt & sand. a 1200 Sidonius Gl. in Anecd. Oxon. Ser. i. v. 36/8 Fuligo, soth. c 1302 Pol. Songs (Camden) 195 Hit falleth the Kyng of Fraunce bittrore then the sote. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 379 Whan al þe chirche was on fuyre, þer fil..noþer sparcle noþer soot uppon Wolston his grave. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 618 Hard as any horn, blakker fer then soot. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 849 Oildreggis fresh for gnattis and for snaylis, Or chamber soot is good to kest aboute. 1530 Palsgr. 273/1 Sote of a chymney, svÿe. 1568 Withals Dict. 46 a/1 Swote, fuligo. 1582 Bentley Mon. Matrones iii. 342 For the time was, when you..liued solitarie, sitting at home among the soote of pots. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 66 Euen as in chimneyes we see by the continuall ascent of soote, long strings of it are gathered as it were into a chaine. 1685 Boyle Enq. Notion Nat. vi. 190 When in a foul chimney, a lump of soot falls into the hearth. 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 51 Soot is found to be a very rich manure. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 612 Soot remarkably increases the produce of soils abounding with vegetable matter. 1874 tr. Lommel's Light 3 The carbon in fine powder will be deposited upon it, forming a layer of soot. |
| fig. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love ii. ix. (Skeat) l. 38 Al sugre and hony, al minstralsy and melody ben but soot and galle in comparison. 1586 Bright Melanch. xxi. 123 Natural actions..are weaker, and as it were smothered with this soote of melancholie. |
| β 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Form. U iij, Some put therto to alter the coloure sute of the chymney. a 1585 Montgomerie Flyting 292 Weil swyld in a swynes skin and smerit ouer with suit. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 3 His head and beard with sout were ill bedight. 1648 Gage West Ind. 142 The smoak..filleth the thatch and the rafters..with sut. 1685 in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 405 Tis soe foul with sutt, smoke, and Dust. 1729 Dampier's Voy. IV. ii. 34 The Hodmandods..make themselves Black with Sut [1697 soot]. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. vi, Distress is for ever a going about, like sut in the air. |
† b. (See
quots. and
cf. nill n.1)
Obs.| [1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Spodium, a maner of soute rysyng of the trying of brasse.] 1611 Cotgr., Spode, the heauier foile, soot, or oare of Brasse. 1668 Charleton Onomast. 300 Spodos Subterranea,..Soot of Brass. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 149/2. |
2. With
a and
pl. a. A particular kind of soot.
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 324 This is a soueraigne soot to hinder the growth again of haires. 1671 Grew Anat. Pl. i. 17 Turpentine,..upon Vstion, sheweth nothing but a black Soot. 1733 Cheyne Eng. Malady ii. iii. §4 (1734) 141 The Soots of some..Woods are..of the same Nature and Efficacy. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 43 When burned, it affords a soot and leaves a small quantity of a coaly residuum. |
b. A flake of soot; a smut.
| 1906 Daily News 28 May 6 An air unsullied by the soots and scents of London. |
3. A substance of a sooty appearance or nature.
| 1597 Middleton Wisd. Solomon xii. 11 Too much seed doth turn to too much soot. 1690 Temple Ess. ii. Gardens of Epicurus, I found my Vines..apt for several years to a Soot or Smuttiness upon their leaves. |
4. transf. Blackness, darkness.
| 1789 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Subj. for Painters Wks. 1812 VII. 157 'Tis what the Prince of Soot hath often done. |
5. attrib. and
Comb. a. Attrib., as
soot-ashes,
soot-bag,
soot-black,
soot-colour,
soot-door,
soot-dressing, etc.
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 199 *Soot-Ashes..prevent Pis-mires..from invading the Fruit. |
| 1798 Hull Advert. 18 Aug. 3/3 A chimney-sweeper put the troublesome gentleman into a *soot-bag. |
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) V. 156/2 Lamp-black..is the finest of what are called the *soot-blacks. |
| 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Minimes, Couleur de minimes, a light *soot colour, hauing an eye of a gray in it. 1639 T. de la Grey Expert Farrier 58 Mouse-dunne and such like rusty and sut-colours. 1670 Caveat to Conventiclers 2 Clad in a duskish Soot-coloure sort of Shamoy. 1781 Latham Gen. Syn. I. i. 134 Cinereous Owl... The whole bird appears as if soiled with light soot-colour. 1834 M{supc}Murtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 360 Blackish-bronze or soot-colour and silky above. |
| 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §593 In that case *soot doors would be necessary in the chimney breast. 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 214 The soot or flue doors, introduced into chimneys for the purposes of cleansing. |
| 1766 Complete Farmer s.v. Lucern, The preference ought to be given to *soot-dressings. |
| 1722 Ramsay Three Bonnets iii. 19 *Soot-draps hang frae his roof and kipples. |
| 1890 Pall Mall G. 28 Oct. 1/3 The extremely heavy *sootfall peculiar to the neighbourhood. |
| 1839–52 Bailey Festus 56 Like the *soot-flake upon a burning bar. |
| 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 399 As for Example, if a Person was to dress..his Sands or Gravels in Summer with *Soot-lime, or Pigeons-dung. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1249 The operations of the *soot-machine are effected thus [etc.]. |
| 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. iii. xv, To that dingy fuliginous Operative, emerging from his *soot-mill. |
| 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 3 The *soot-particles lie in the perilobular and interlobular tissue. |
| a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) 234 The seed being soaked in *soot-water. 1755 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) III. 139 Have you no Indian ink, no soot-water? 1882 The Garden 22 July 73/2 Soot water is found to be exceedingly beneficial to Pine-apple plants. |
b. Similative, as
soot-black,
soot-brown,
soot-dark,
† soot-red [
cf. OIcel.
sótrauðr],
soot-like adjs.| 1715 Lond. Gaz. No. 5375/4 Lost.., two Geldings, the one a *Soote black. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 80 The boys through fear in soot-black corners push. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. v. iv, Your dark-yellow Mulattoes? And your Slaves soot-black? |
| c 1843 ― Hist. Sk. Jas. I (1898) 244 All soiled *soot-brown, illegible as the letter-press. |
| 1853 C. Brontë Villette xxix, His *soot-dark paletôt. |
| 1789 J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 211 If you discover a quantity of soft, black, *soot-like matter, you should dig in it. 1837 P. Keith Bot. Lex. 327 The farina of the grain..is converted into a black soot-like powder. |
| a 1400 Octouian 1045 The launce was *swot red and croked. |
c. With
ppl. adjs., as
soot-bespeckled,
soot-blackened,
soot-bleakened,
soot-bleared,
soot-clogged,
soot-coated,
soot-grimed,
soot-roughened,
soot-suffused, etc.
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. i. ii, In that soot-bleared figure, most earnest of created things. 1839 Dickens Nich. Nick. xvi, A soot-bespeckled prospect of tiles and chimney-pots. 1871 Kingsley At Last xi, Here and there some huge tree had burnt as it stood, and rose like a soot-grimed tower. 1894 ‘Mark Twain’ in Century Mag. XLVIII. 17/1 It rained all day..apparently trying its best to wash that soot-blackened town [sc. St. Louis] white. 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist (1969) 115 The soot-coated packet of pictures which he had hidden in the flue of the fireplace. 1921 W. de la Mare Veil 68 Slow wreathed the grease adown from soot-clogged wick. 1932 W. Faulkner Light in August vi. 111 Memory..knows remembers believes a corridor in a big long garbled cold echoing building of dark red brick sootbleakened by more chimneys than its own. 1947 W. de la Mare Coll. Stories for Children 122 Chapped, soot-roughened hands. 1956 D. Gascoyne Night Thoughts 23 The soot-suffused sky-canopy. 1977 H. Fast Immigrants i. 29 The still half-naked citizens, soot-blackened and homeless, greeted the ruin as they had always greeted their city. |
d. Objective, as
soot-sowing.
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1247 The soot-sowing machine. |
6. Special combs.:
soot-bag, a reticule (
Slang Dict. 1864);
soot-blower, a device for clearing soot from the flues of a boiler, furnace, etc.;
soot-cancer,
-dew (see
quots.);
soot house (see
quots.);
soot-wart (see
quot. ? 1810).
| 1930 Engineering 16 May 627/1 Steam driers had met with little success while *soot-blowers had been widely introduced. 1967 Trans. Inst. Engineers & Shipbuilders in Scotland CX. 36 Naval boilers, up to the end of the last war, were not normally provided with sootblowers. |
| 1878 Walsham Surg. Pathol. xiii. 369 From the great frequency with which it occurs in chimney-sweepers, cancer of the scrotum is generally designated the *soot- or sweeps-cancer. |
| 1891 Cent. Dict., *Soot-dew,..a black, fuliginous coating covering parts of living plants. |
| 1957 E. E. Evans Irish Folk Ways ix. 120 The *soot⁓houses..whose roofs..were stripped in spring in the days when the whole family migrated to the summer pastures. At any rate the soot-house season runs from October to May... In the Hebrides it was customary to strip the soot-laden thatch of the black-houses annually for use as manure, and the roof was left without a smoke-hole to encourage the deposit of soot. 1966 Daily Tel. 21 Apr. 4/7 On Achill Island off the west coast of Ireland are the remains of some small buildings... They are called ‘soot houses’ and were used for the production of soot for fertilising the potato crop. |
| ? 1810 P. Pott Obs. Chimney Sweeper's Cancer 4 It is a disease which always makes its first attack on..the inferior part of the scrotum..: the trade calls it the *soot-wart. 1869 Tanner Pract. Med. (ed. 6) I. 126 Since the Act of Parliament made the use of machinery imperative, the soot-wart has been less frequently seen. |
▪ II. soot variant of
swote ‘sweat’
Obs.▪ III. † soot, a. and n.2 Obs. Forms: α. 1
suot, 1–2
swot, 2–5
swote, 3–5
suote, 5
swoote, 7
swoot. β. 4–6
sote. γ. 4–7
soot, 5–6
soote, 6–7
sout(e.
[OE. swót, var. of swéte sweet a., influenced by swóte soot adv.] A. adj. 1. Sweet to the smell or taste; sweet-smelling, fragrant.
| α c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xii. 3 Þæt hus ᵹefylled uæs of suot stenc ðæs smirinese. a 1000 Passio St. Margaretæ in Cockayne Narrat. 49 Mid swotum wyrtum. a 1100 in Napier O.E. Glosses 226/2 Odoramentis, swotum bræðum. a 1200 St. Marher. 4 He is..swotest to smeallen; ne his swote sauur..mei neauer littlin. c 1275 Passion our Lord 561 in O.E. Misc., Þo seyh heo þer twey engles myd hwite cloþes and swote. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 8 A suote smul þare cam of heom. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. x. 119 Riht as þe Rose þat red is and swote. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 60 The erth wexith proude..For swote dewes that on it falle. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 176 With swote drinkes and with softe. c 1430 Life St. Kath. 12 As þe fayre and swoote rose spryngeth amonge þe thornes. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xi. 147 Yf me make a knotte on euery roote, They wole be frogh ynough & tender swoote. |
| β ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1425 Thorough moisture of the welle wete Sprong up the sote grene gras. c 1386 ― Miller's T. 19 (Cambr. MS.), A chambre had he..Ful fetously i-dight with erbis sote. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy (1555) i. vi, And them [sc. branches]..With sote blosmes freshly to repayre. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 2083 A sote sauore þe lafte styll þere. |
| γ c 1386 Chaucer 2nd Nun's T. 229 Ne never moo ne schul they roten be, Ne leese here soote savour. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 10881 The mor that ther be flourys fayre, Lusty, soote, & fressh off hewe. a 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. lvii. 135 Swetter þan eny soot encence. 1492 Ryman Poems xxxv. 4 in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. LXXXIX. 202 O Iesse rote moost swete and soote. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions i. v. 78 Wine..wherin are enfused many soote odours and drugges. 1567 Golding Ovid's Met. viii. (1593) 114 A roote Of Radish, and a jolly lump of Butter fresh and soote. 1600 Fairfax Tasso xv. xlvi, The height was greene with herbes and flowrets sout. 1611 Cotgr., Soëf, sweet,..delicious, delicate, soote. |
2. Of persons, qualities, etc.: Pleasant, agreeable, gentle, mild, gracious.
| α a 1225 Ancr. R. 102 Þes cos, leoue sustren, is..so unimete swote & swete. c 1250 Hymn in Trin. Coll. Hom. App. 256 Leuedi milde, softe & swote, ic crie þe merci. c 1275 in O.E. Misc. 89 For his swete moder luue þat is so veyr and swote. c 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xviii. 57 In myn huerte thou sete a rote Of thi love, that is so swote. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5412 Unto men more profit doth The froward Fortune and contraire, Than the swote and debonaire. c 1425 Castle Persev. 2057 in Macro Plays, Þerfor, vij systeris swote, lete oure vertus reyne on rote! |
| β c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 1194 To whom this tale Sugre be or Sote. c 1385 ― L.G.W. 1077 Dido, To sum folk ofte newe thyng is sote. c 1403 Lydg. Temple Glas 1264 And so to ȝow more sote and agreable Shal loue be found. 1477 Paston Lett. III. 181 Lest the French Kyng..shuld in eny wise distourbe yow of yowr soft, sote, and sewre slepys. 1503 Hawes Examp. Virt. v. 66 With helpe of vertue so swete and sote. 1558 G. Cavendish Poems (1825) II. 67 Onles that grace have on the rewthe, To plant in the some vertue sote. |
b. Of sounds: Melodious; harmonious.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 752 Thisbe, And on that othir side stod Thesbe The sote soun of othir to resseyue. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 14693 With ther soote mellodye. 1593 Barnes Parthen. Sonn. xl, With thy notes harmonious and songs soot. 1614 J. Davies (Heref.) Eclogues Wks. (Grosart) II. 19 As swoot as Swans thy straines make Thames to ring. Ibid. 20 But now ne recke they of soot carrolling. |
B. n. That which is sweet; a person of sweet disposition.
| c 1430 Hymns Virgin (1867) 29 Me þinkeþ myn herte wole al to-breke Whanne y þinke on þat soote. 1620 R. Brathwait Five Senses in Archaica (1815) II. 29 For even by the smell..do we apprehend all varieties of flowers, sootes, sweets. 1638 ― Spiritual Spicerie 227 Nor bee these Soots lesse redolent in odour Which grow by Tiber. |
b. In wine-making: (see first
quot.).
| 1682 Art & Myst. Vintners (1703) 52 Take 30 gallons of Soot, which is Wine boyled to a Consumption of half, to a Butt of Wine. Ibid., Some instead of Soot make of Sugar Molosses and Honey. |
▪ IV. † soot, adv. Obs. Forms: 1–4
swote, 4–5
sote, 4–6
soote.
[OE. swóte, = MDu. soete, zoete, OHG. suozo, suazo (MHG. suoze), the adv. corresponding to the adj. swéte sweet.] Sweetly, in various senses.
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. xxxvii. 220 Oleo,..ic stince swote. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 53 He..bret hine [the cheese] for þon þet he scolde swote smelle. a 1225 Ancr. R. 238 Forði þet tu sleptest swote. a 1300 Leg. Rood (1871) 24 Of ech maner frut þat he sei þat smolde also swote. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2612 Hypermnestra, Thensens out of the fuyr out rekyth sote. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 3459 Spyce & greyn I make to enspyre soote. c 1450 Merlin ix. 133 So swote sauoured..that fer men shulde fele the odour. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Apr. 111 They dauncen deffly, and singen soote, in their meriment. |
| Comb. c 1425 St. Mary of Oignies ii. ix. in Anglia VIII. 175 Þe sote-sauourynge cloþes of þis spouse of Cryste. |
▪ V. soot, v. (
sʊt)
[f. soot n.1 Cf. Norw. sota.] 1. trans. To smear, smudge, or foul with soot; to cover with or as with soot.
| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. ii, The black filth of sinne That soots thy heart. 1634 W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. ii. xx. (1865) 108 The young Infant being greased and sooted, wrapt in a Beaver skin [etc.]. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. 107 The smoake thereof would have sooted his Green suit. 1706 Stevens Spanish Dict. 1, Hollinár, to soot, to daub with Soot. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) I. 82 Sooty,..dark and dirty as if sooted, as are some of the Lichens. a 1859 De Quincey Posth. Wks. (1891) I. 34 He paints himself histrionically; he soots his face. |
2. To sprinkle or manure with soot.
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 325 Whether it was because the other Land was sooted before, I could never yet find. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 28 He..harrowed in his Barly and sooted it on the top. 1778 W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 16 Aug. 1776, Part was dunged; part, sooted; and part, undressed. |
3. Sometimes with
up: to fill or choke with a sooty deposit. Also
fig.| 1903, 1925 [implied in sooting vbl. n. below]. 1929 W. E. Collinson Spoken Eng. 84 The engine is knocking. One of the [sparking] plugs is probably sooted up. 1959 M. Pugh Chancer i. 9 London was sooting me up and I couldn't shed it, layer by layer, like the plane-trees in the park. |
Hence
ˈsooting vbl. n.| 1706 Stevens Span. Dict. i, Tiznad{uacu}ra, Smutting, Sooting, Blacking, Smearing. 1903 Cassell's Suppl. Add., Sooting,..the impregnation of the sparking plug with soot, due to combustion of the explosive mixture when carbureting is bad. 1925 Morris Owner's Manual iv. 46 Bad plug insulation is sometimes caused through sooting. |