sod

English

Pronunciation

• (UK)
  • IPA^(key): /sɒd/
• (US)
  • IPA^(key): /sɑd/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (General Australian)
  • IPA^(key): /sɔd/

  • Audio (AU)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒd
• Homophone: sawed (in accents with the cot-caught merger)

Etymology 1

From Middle English sod, sodde first attested in the mid-15th century, from Middle Dutch zoden (“turf”) or Middle Low German sôde, soede (“turf”), both related to Dutch zode (“turf”), German Sode (“turf”), Old Frisian sātha (“sod”), all being of uncertain ultimate origin.

Noun

sod (plural sods)

1. (uncountable) The stratum of the surface of the soil which is filled with the roots of grass, or any portion of that surface; turf; sward.
   • 1746, William Collins, Ode written in the year 1746:

     She there shall dress a sweeter sod / Than Fancy's feet have ever trod.

2. (uncountable) Turf grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns.

   The landscapers rolled sod onto the bare earth and made a presentable lawn by nightfall.

3. (countable) A piece of this.
   • 1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 338:

     In Walachia, green sods are laid on the window-sills and on the lintels of the doors to avert the uncanny crew [i.e. witches].

Related terms

• soddie
• sodless

Translations

Verb

sod (third-person singular simple present sods, present participle sodding, simple past and past participle sodded)

1. To cover with sod.

   He sodded the worn areas twice a year.

Translations

Etymology 2

Clipping of sodomite or sodomize.

Noun

sod (plural sods)

1. (British, Ireland, vulgar) Sodomite; bugger. (Out dated)
   • 1998, Sarah Waters, Tipping the Velvet, Virago (2018), page 207:

     The Empire, in particular, was always thick with sods: they strolled side-by-side with the gay girls of the promenade, or stood, in little knots, exchanging gossip, comparing fortunes, greeting one another with flapping hands and high, extravagant voices.

2. (British, Ireland, slang, mildly derogatory, formerly considered vulgar) A person; often qualified with an adjective.

   You mean old sod!

   poor sod

   unlucky sod

   You silly sod

3. (British, Ireland, mildly vulgar) Any trifling amount, a bugger, a damn, a jot.

   I don’t care a sod.

Derived terms

Translations

Interjection

sod

1. (UK, Ireland, vulgar) expression of surprise, contempt, outrage, disgust, boredom, frustration.

Verb

sod (third-person singular simple present sods, present participle sodding, simple past and past participle sodded)

1. (transitive, British, Ireland, slang, vulgar) Bugger; sodomize.
2. (transitive, British, Ireland, slang, vulgar) Damn, curse, confound.

   Sod him!, Sod it!, Sod that bastard!

Derived terms

Etymology 3

From the Old English plural past tense, or a back-formation from the past participle sodden.

Verb

sod

1. (obsolete) simple past of seethe
   • 1530 January 27 (Gregorian calendar), W[illiam] T[yndale], transl., (Tyndale Bible), Malborow , Hesse: Hans Luft , →OCLC, Genesis xxv:[29], folio xxxiiij, verso:

     Iacob ſod potage ⁊ Eſau came from the feld ⁊ was faine […]

Adjective

sod (comparative more sod, superlative most sod)

1. (obsolete) Boiled.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: , 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
     , New York, 2001, p.223:

     Beer, if it be over-new, or over-stale, over-strong, or not sod, […] is most unwholesome, frets, and galls, etc.

2. (Australia, of bread) Sodden; incompletely risen.

   sod damper

Noun

sod (plural sods)

1. (Australia, colloquial) A damper (bread) which has failed to rise, remaining a flat lump.
   • 1954, Tom Ronan, Vision Splendid; quoted in Tom Burton, Words in Your Ear, Wakefield Press, 1999, →ISBN, page 120:

     And Mart the cook the shovel took / And swung the damper to and fro. / 'Another sod, so help me God, / That's fourteen in a flamin' row.

Etymology 4

Noun

sod (plural sods)

1. The rock dove.

Anagrams

• DOS, DSO, DoS, OD's, ODS, OSD, SDO, do's, dos, dso, ods

Breton

Noun

sod m

1. imbecile

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse sót (“soot”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /soːd/,
• Rhymes: -oð

Noun

sod c (singular definite soden, not used in plural form)

1. soot

Verb

sod

1. imperative of sode

Maltese

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian sodo, from Latin solidus. Doublet of solidu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔːt/

Adjective

sod (feminine singular soda, plural sodi)

1. firm; steadfast

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse soð. Doublet of sodd.

Noun

sod n (definite singular sodet, indefinite plural sod, definite plural soda)

1. boiling, bubbling
2. broth
3. meat soup

References

• “sod” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Slovene

Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:

sod

Wikipedia ^sl

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *sǫdъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sóːt/

Noun

sọ̑d m inan

1. barrel

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Further reading

• “sod”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Volapük

Noun

sod (nominative plural sods)

1. sauce

Declension