cesspool
An underground pit where sewage is held.
Noun
- An underground pit where sewage is held.
Coordinate Terms: septic tank
- A filthy place.
- Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained. - 1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”, in...
Synonyms: cesspit
Origin
From earlier sesspool. Origin uncertain. Perhaps from Italian cesso (“privy, a toilet”) + English pool. Alternatively, an alteration of English dialectal suspool, from suss, soss (“a 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 (“an air hole”), from soupirer, souspirer (“to sigh, breathe”), from Latin suspirare.