cesspool

English

Alternative forms

• cess pool, sesspool

Etymology

From earlier sesspool. Origin uncertain.

Perhaps from Italian cesso (“privy, toilet”) + English pool. Alternatively, an alteration of English dialectal suspool, from suss, soss (“puddle; mire”) +‎ pool. Another possible derivation is from a folk etymology (influence from pool) from earlier cesperalle, alteration of Middle English suspiral, from Middle French souspirail (“air hole”), from soupirer, souspirer (“to sigh, breathe”), from Latin suspirare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛsˌpuːl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

cesspool (plural cesspools)

1. An underground pit where sewage is held.
2. (by extension) A filthy place.
   • 1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”, in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock & Co., part I (Being a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., […]), chapter I (Mr. Sherlock Holmes), page 2:

     Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.

Synonyms

• cesspit
• gongpit

Coordinate terms

• septic tank

Derived terms

• cesspipe

Translations

place for sewage

Arabic: بِئْر تَسْرِيب m (biʔr tasrīb), بَيَّارَة صَرْف f (bayyāra(t) ṣarf), بَالُوعَة f (bālūʕa) Chinese: Mandarin: 糞池 / 粪池 (zh) (fènchí), 糞坑 / 粪坑 (zh) (fènkēng), 污水池 (wūshuǐchí) Czech: žumpa (cs) f Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: beerput (nl) m Finnish: likakaivo (fi), likavesikaivo French: fosse d’aisance f, fosse (fr) f German: Jauchegrube (de) f, Jauchengrube (de) f, Senkgrube f, Abfallgrube (de) f, Güllegrube (de) f, (South German) Odelgrube f Greek: βόθρος (el) m (vóthros), καταβόθρα (el) f (katavóthra) Hungarian: pöcegödör (hu), emésztőgödör (hu) Italian: pozzo nero, fossa biologica f, fogna (it) f, cesso alla turca m Maltese: ħarrajja f Polish: szambo (pl) n Portuguese: fossa (pt) f Russian: выгребна́я я́ма f (vygrebnája jáma), сто́чный коло́дец m (stóčnyj kolódec) Scottish Gaelic: poll-caca m Serbo-Croatian: septička jama f Slovak: žumpa (sk) f Spanish: pozo negro m, pozo ciego m Swedish: avloppsbrunn c, kloakbrunn c Tagalog: poso siyego, poso syego Turkish: mezbele (tr) Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can Volapük: jiedotasep

filthy place

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Chinese: Mandarin: 污穢的地方 / 污秽的地方 (wūhuì de dìfang) Danish: please add this translation if you can Finnish: läävä (fi) French: cloaque (fr) m, porcherie (fr) f German: Sumpf (de) Hungarian: pöcegödör (hu) Italian: fogna (it) f Polish: szambo (pl) n Portuguese: chiqueiro (pt) m Russian: клоа́ка (ru) f (kloáka) Spanish: cloaca (es) f Swedish: träsk (sv) n, dypöl c, kloak (sv) c Turkish: bok çukuru Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can