Etymology

From Middle French souiller, from Old French soillier, souillier ‎(“to soil, make dirty, wallow in mire”), from Frankish *sauljan, *sulljan ‎(“to make dirty, soil”), from Proto-Germanic *sulwōną, *sulwijaną, *saulijaną ‎(“to soil, make dirty”), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- ‎(“thick liquid”). Cognate with Old Saxon sulian ‎(“to soil, mire”), Middle Dutch soluwen, seulewen ‎(“to soil, besmirch”), Old High German solagōn, bisullen ‎(“to make dirty”), German dialectal sühlen ‎(“to soil, make dirty”), Old English solian, sylian ‎(“to soil, sully”), Danish søle ‎(“to make dirty, defile”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 ‎(bisauljan, “to bemire”). More at soil.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /su.je/