Foulness
/ˈfaʊl.nəs/noun
The quality of being dirty, offensive, or morally bad.
Did you know?Foul once meant not just “dirty,” but also “morally offensive” and “corrupted,” and its deep Germanic roots are tied to the idea of something physically spoiled or decayed.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*fulaz
“dirty, unclean, rotten”
Old English
OE
fūl
“foul, dirty, corrupt, base”
Middle English
ME
foul
“dirty, unpleasant, morally ugly”
14th Century
English
foulnesse
“the state of being foul or unclean”
Modern English
English
foulness
“the quality of being dirty, offensive, or morally bad”