A substance that contaminates or degrades the environment, making it harmful or unsuitable for living organisms.
From Latin 'pollutus' (past participle of 'polluere', meaning to defile or contaminate) plus the agent suffix '-ant'. The modern environmental sense developed in the mid-20th century.
The word 'pollutant' didn't exist until the 1960s environmental movement needed precise language to discuss contamination. Before then, people just called it 'dirt' or 'waste,' showing how environmental consciousness shaped vocabulary.
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