manure

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To cultivate by manual labor; to till; hence, to develop by culture.

   A woman that wandring in our coaſtes hath bought / A plot for price: where ſhe a citie ſet: / To whom we gaue the ſtrond for to manure.

2. 2
   verb

   To apply manure (as fertilizer or soil improver).

   The farmer manured his fallow field.

3. 3
   noun

   Animal excrement, especially that of common domestic farm animals and when used as fertilizer. Generally speaking, from cows, horses, sheep, pigs and chickens.

   1985, Biff Tannen (portrayed by Thomas F. Wilson), Back to the Future. I hate manure!

4. 4
   noun

   Any fertilizing substance, whether of animal origin or not; fertiliser.

   Vegetable manure [⁠= green manure⁠].

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Manure came from Old French in the late Middle Ages and ultimately derives from Latin manu operari “to work with the hand.” It first meant to cultivate land or to administer property; its association with dung applied to land dates from the mid-16th century.

From Middle English maynouren, manuren (“to supervise, toil”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman meinourer and Old French manovrer (whence also English maneuver, or in French manœuvrer) from Vulgar Latin *manuoperare (“work by hand”), from Latin manū (“by hand”) + operārī (“to work”).

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary