"mudsill" meaning in English

See mudsill in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: mudsills [plural]
Etymology: "1685, 'lowest sill of a house,' from mud + sill. The word entered U.S. political history in a speech by James M. Hammond of South Carolina, March 4, 1858, in U.S. Senate, alluding to the very mudsills of society, and the term subsequently was embraced by Northern workers in the pre-Civil War sectional rivalry." (OED, 2007) Head templates: {{en-noun}} mudsill (plural mudsills)
  1. The lowest sill of a structure, usually placed in or on the ground. Categories (topical): People
    Sense id: en-mudsill-en-noun-FDLBQza2 Disambiguation of People: 55 0 45
  2. (figuratively) A particularly low or dirty place/state; the nadir of something (see rock bottom) Tags: figuratively
    Sense id: en-mudsill-en-noun-KPe4OWyz
  3. (dated, Southern US) A person of low status or humble provenance. Tags: Southern-US, dated Categories (topical): People
    Sense id: en-mudsill-en-noun-w6jWFzb2 Disambiguation of People: 55 0 45 Categories (other): Southern US English
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: mud sill, mud-sill

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for mudsill meaning in English (2.8kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [],
  "etymology_text": "\"1685, 'lowest sill of a house,' from mud + sill. The word entered U.S. political history in a speech by James M. Hammond of South Carolina, March 4, 1858, in U.S. Senate, alluding to the very mudsills of society, and the term subsequently was embraced by Northern workers in the pre-Civil War sectional rivalry.\" (OED, 2007)",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "mudsills",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "mudsill (plural mudsills)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "55 0 45",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The lowest sill of a structure, usually placed in or on the ground."
      ],
      "id": "en-mudsill-en-noun-FDLBQza2",
      "links": [
        [
          "sill",
          "sill"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The Pre-Historic Era was the mudsill of human development."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A particularly low or dirty place/state; the nadir of something (see rock bottom)"
      ],
      "id": "en-mudsill-en-noun-KPe4OWyz",
      "links": [
        [
          "nadir",
          "nadir"
        ],
        [
          "rock bottom",
          "rock bottom"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) A particularly low or dirty place/state; the nadir of something (see rock bottom)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Southern US English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "55 0 45",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1861, Theodore Winthrop, Washington as a Camp, The Following Is the Oath\nWe were now miserable mercenaries, serving for low pay and rough rations. Read the Southern papers and you will see us described. “Mudsills,” — that, I believe, is the technical word."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1868, Carl Schurz, The Road to Peace — a Solid, Durable Peace",
          "text": "General Lee throw down his sword and surrender his invincible Southern legions to that poor little Northern mud-sill, a late tanner from Illinois!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1903, Hightower Theodore Kealing, The Characteristics of the Negro People",
          "text": "Though the mudsill of the labor world, he whistles as he hoes, and no dark broodings or whispered conspirings mar the cheerful acceptance of the load he bears.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person of low status or humble provenance."
      ],
      "id": "en-mudsill-en-noun-w6jWFzb2",
      "links": [
        [
          "provenance",
          "provenance"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dated, Southern US) A person of low status or humble provenance."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Southern-US",
        "dated"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "mud sill"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "mud-sill"
    }
  ],
  "word": "mudsill"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "en:People"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [],
  "etymology_text": "\"1685, 'lowest sill of a house,' from mud + sill. The word entered U.S. political history in a speech by James M. Hammond of South Carolina, March 4, 1858, in U.S. Senate, alluding to the very mudsills of society, and the term subsequently was embraced by Northern workers in the pre-Civil War sectional rivalry.\" (OED, 2007)",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "mudsills",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "mudsill (plural mudsills)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The lowest sill of a structure, usually placed in or on the ground."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sill",
          "sill"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The Pre-Historic Era was the mudsill of human development."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A particularly low or dirty place/state; the nadir of something (see rock bottom)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "nadir",
          "nadir"
        ],
        [
          "rock bottom",
          "rock bottom"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) A particularly low or dirty place/state; the nadir of something (see rock bottom)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dated terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Southern US English"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1861, Theodore Winthrop, Washington as a Camp, The Following Is the Oath\nWe were now miserable mercenaries, serving for low pay and rough rations. Read the Southern papers and you will see us described. “Mudsills,” — that, I believe, is the technical word."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1868, Carl Schurz, The Road to Peace — a Solid, Durable Peace",
          "text": "General Lee throw down his sword and surrender his invincible Southern legions to that poor little Northern mud-sill, a late tanner from Illinois!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1903, Hightower Theodore Kealing, The Characteristics of the Negro People",
          "text": "Though the mudsill of the labor world, he whistles as he hoes, and no dark broodings or whispered conspirings mar the cheerful acceptance of the load he bears.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person of low status or humble provenance."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "provenance",
          "provenance"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dated, Southern US) A person of low status or humble provenance."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Southern-US",
        "dated"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "mud sill"
    },
    {
      "word": "mud-sill"
    }
  ],
  "word": "mudsill"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-03-12 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-03-01 using wiktextract (68773ab and 5f6ddbb). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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