Unsullied
/ʌnˈsʌl.id/noun
Not stained, dirtied, corrupted, or morally tainted.
Did you know?The verb “sully” entered English through Old French souiller, probably linked to Latin suilla, “pigsty,” giving moral purity an unexpectedly muddy ancestry.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*suh₂-
“Pig; swine”
Classical Latin
Latin
sus / suilla
“Pig / relating to a pig; suilla could refer to a pigsty or pig-related filth”
12th Century
Old French
souiller
“To soil, stain, or pollute”
Late 13th Century
Middle English
sulien
“To dirty, stain, or defile”
14th–15th Century
English
sully
“To soil physically or damage someone’s honor”
Modern English
English
unsullied
“Not soiled, stained, dishonored, or corrupted”