Pollute

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late Middle English: from Latin pollut- ‘soiled, defiled’, from the verb polluere, based on the root of lutum ‘mud’.

wiktionary

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From Middle English polluten, from Latin pollūtum, from pollūtus(“no longer virgin", "unchaste”), perfect passive participle of polluō(“soil", "defile", "dishonor”).

etymonline

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pollute (v.)

late 14c., polluten, "to defile, violate the sanctity of, render ceremonially unclean," a back formation from pollution, or else from Latin pollutus, past participle of polluere "to defile, pollute, contaminate." Related: Polluted; polluting. Meaning "make physically foul" is from 1540s; specific sense "contaminate the environment" emerged by 1860, but was not yet in the 1895 Century Dictionary.