Pollution
late Middle English: from Latin pollutio(n- ), from the verb polluere (see pollute).
wiktionary
From Middle English pollucion, from Anglo-Norman pollutiun, Middle French pollution, pollucion, and their source, post-classical Latin pollūtiō(“defilement, desecration; nocturnal emission”) (4th century), from the participial stem of polluō(“to soil, defile, contaminate”), from por-(“before”) + -luō(“to smear”), related to lutum(“mud”) and luēs(“filth”). Compare Ancient Greek λῦμα(lûma, “filth, dirt, disgrace”) and λῦμαξ(lûmax, “rubbish, refuse”), Old Irish loth(“mud, dirt”), Lithuanian lutynas(“pool, puddle”).
etymonline
pollution (n.)
mid-14c., pollucioun, "discharge of semen other than during sex," later, "desecration, profanation, defilement, legal or ceremonial uncleanness" (late 14c.), from Late Latin pollutionem (nominative pollutio) "defilement," noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin polluere "to soil, defile, contaminate," probably from *por- "before" (a variation of pro "before, for;" see pro-) + -luere "smear," from PIE root *leu- "dirt; make dirty" (see lutose). Sense of "contamination of the environment" is recorded from c. 1860, but not common until c. 1955.
