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Origin and history of muck

muck(n.)

mid-13c., muk, "animal or human excrement; cow dung and vegetable matter spread as manure," from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse myki, mykr "cow dung," Danish møg; from Proto-Germanic *muk-, *meuk- "soft," which is perhaps related to Old English meox "dung, filth" (see mash (n.)). Meaning "unclean matter generally" is from c. 1300; that of "wet, slimy mess" is by 1766. Muck-sweat "profuse sweat" is attested from 1690s.

muck(v.)

late 14c., mukken, "to dig in the ground," also "to remove manure;" c. 1400, "to spread manure, cover with muck," from muck (n.) or Old Norse moka (n.). Mucker "one who removes muck from stables" is attested by early 13c. as a surname. Meaning "to make dirty" is from 1832; in the figurative sense, "to make a mess of," it is from 1886; to muck about "mess around" is from 1856. To muck (something) up is by 1896 as "to dirty, soil;" 1922 as "make a mess of." Related: Mucked; mucking.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to muck

mash(n.1)

"soft mixture, mass of ingredients beaten or stirred together," late Old English *masc (in masc-wyrt "mash-wort, infused malt"), from Proto-Germanic *maisk- (source also of Swedish mäsk "grains for pigs," German Maisch "crushed grapes, infused malt," Old English meox "dung, filth"), possibly from PIE root *meik- "to mix."

Originally a word in brewing; the general sense of "anything reduced to a soft pulpy consistency" is recorded from 1590s, as is the figurative sense of "confused mixture, muddle." Short for mashed potatoes it is attested from 1904.

midden(n.)

mid-14c., midding, "dunghill, muck heap," a word of Scandinavian origin; compare Danish mødding, from møg "muck" (see muck (n.)) + dynge "heap of dung" (see dung). Modern archaeological sense of "prehistoric place for disposing of kitchen refuse, ashes, etc." is 19c., from Danish excavations.

muck-raker(n.)

also muckraker, c. 1600, "one who rakes muck" (earliest use is in a figurative sense: "a miser"), from muck-rake "rake for scraping muck or filth" (mid-14c.), from muck (n.) + rake (n.). The figurative meaning "one who inquires into and publishes scandal and allegations of corruption among political and business leaders" was popularized 1906 in speech by President Theodore Roosevelt, in reference to the "man ... with a Muckrake in his hand" in Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" (1684) who seeks worldly gain by raking filth.

The men with the muck-rakes are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking the muck. [T. Roosevelt, quoted in "Cincinnati Enquirer," April 15, 1906.]

Muck-rake (n.) in sense "person who hunts scandal" is attested from 1872. To muck-rake (v.) in the literal sense is from 1879; figuratively from 1910. Related: Muck-raking.

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    Trends of muck

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    manure
    c. 1400, "to cultivate (land, a garden) by manual labor," also "to hold property, rule," from Anglo-French meynoverer (late 13c.), Old French manovrer "to work with the hands, cultivate; carry out; make, produce," from Medieval Latin manuoperare (see maneuver (n.))  Sense of
    dung
    late Old English dung "manure, decayed matter used to fertilize soil," from Proto-Germanic *dungō (source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon dung "manure;" Old High German tunga "manuring," tung "underground room covered with manure;" German Dung; Old Norse dyngja "heap of manure,
    slime
    "Any soft, ropy, glutinous, or viscous substance" [Century Dictionary], Old English slim "soft mud," from Proto-Germanic *slimaz (source also of Old Norse slim, Old Frisian slym, Dutch slijm "slime, phlegm," German Schleim "slime"), which is probably related to Old English lim "b
    suds
    1540s, "dregs, leavings, muck," especially in East Anglia, "ooze left by flood" (according to OED this may be the original...
    sharn
    "dung of cattle, manure," a word surviving in Scottish English, Middle English sharn, from Old English scearn "dung, muck...
    cremation
    The adoption of cremation would relieve us of a muck of threadbare burial-witticisms; but, on the other hand, it would resurrect...
    roil
    Perhaps it is from French rouiller "to rust, make muddy," from Old French roil "mud, muck, rust" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin...
    take
    Middle English taken, from late Old English tacan "to grip, seize by force, lay hold of," from a Scandinavian source (such as Old Norse taka "take, grasp, lay hold," past tense tok, past participle tekinn; also compare Swedish ta, past participle tagit). This is reconstructed to
    silo
    1835, "a pit in the ground or a cavity in rock for storage of green crops," often in reference to other countries, and the word in English is explained at first, from Spanish silo, traditionally derived from Latin sirum (nominative sirus), from Greek siros "a pit to keep corn in.
    soil
    early 13c., "to defile or pollute with sin," from Old French soillier "to splatter with mud, to foul or make dirty," originally "to wallow" (12c., Modern French souillier), from souil "tub, wild boar's wallow, pigsty," which is from Latin solium "tub for bathing; seat" (from PIE

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