Definition of SOOT

soot

Plural: soots

Noun

  • a black colloidal substance consisting wholly or principally of amorphous carbon and used to make pigments and ink
  • Fine black or dull brown particles of amorphous carbon and tar, produced by the incomplete combustion of coal, oil etc.

Verb

Verb Forms: sooted, sooting, soots

  • To cover or dirty something with soot, a black carbon powder.
  • coat with soot
  • To cover or dress with soot.

Examples

  • His opponent’s desperate plays seemed to soot the entire board, obscuring clear paths.

Origin / Etymology

Inherited from Middle English soot, soote, sote, sot, from Old English sōt, from Proto-Germanic *sōtą (“soot”), from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”). Cognate with dated Dutch zoet (“soot”), German Low German Soot (“soot”), Danish sod (“soot”), Swedish sot (“soot”), Icelandic sót (“soot”). Compare similar ō-grade formation the same Proto-Indo-European root in Old Irish suide (“soot”) and Balto-Slavic: Lithuanian súodžiai (“soot”), and Proto-Slavic *saďa (“soot”) (Russian са́жа (sáža), Polish and Slovak sadza, Bulgarian са́жда (sážda)).

Synonyms

carbon black, crock, lampblack, smut

Scrabble Score: 4

soot: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
soot: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
soot: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 4

soot: valid Words With Friends Word