ordure
/'ɔ:djuə/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- Solid excretory product evacuated from the bowels; feces, dung, excrement. This is the primary and most literal meaning of the word.
- Filth, obscenity, or foul language. This is a figurative, literary, or archaic usage, referring to something considered morally or verbally filthy.
Usage
- As a noun referring to feces: The word is a formal, literary, or euphemistic term for bodily waste. It is not common in everyday conversation.
- As a noun referring to obscenity: This usage is rare and highly literary, often used to condemn vulgar speech or writing.
Examples
- Literal meaning (feces):
- The streets of the medieval city were foul with ordure and refuse.
- The stable was cleaned daily to remove the animal ordure.
- Figurative meaning (obscenity):
- He condemned the pamphlet as nothing but political ordure. (This usage is now very uncommon.)
Advanced Usage
- The word is often used in historical, literary, or descriptive contexts to evoke a sense of disgust or extreme filth, whether physical or moral.
- It can appear in translations of older texts or in stylized prose.
Variants and Related Words
- Ordurous (adjective): Resembling or consisting of ordure; filthy.
- The ordurous conditions of the alley were a health hazard.
Synonyms
- Feces: The most standard technical term.
- Excrement: A formal, biological term.
- Dung: Specifically refers to the feces of animals.
- Manure: Animal dung used as fertilizer.
- Droppings: The feces of small animals or birds.
- Filth: For the figurative sense; general dirt or moral corruption.
Antonyms
- Cleanliness
- Purity
- Decency (for the figurative sense)
Notes
- 'Ordure' is not a phrasal verb and does not have common idiomatic expressions associated with it in modern English. Its use is almost entirely confined to its core definition as a synonym for excrement. The figurative sense is largely obsolete.
Noun
- solid excretory product evacuated from the bowels