mudsill
The lowest sill of a structure, usually placed in or on the groundThe lowest sill of a structure, usually placed in or on the ground.
Значення
значень: 3The lowest sill of a structure, usually placed in or on the ground.
(переносно)A particularly low or dirty place/state; the nadir of something (see rock bottom)
The Pre-Historic Era was the mudsill of human development.
(Southern US, застаріле)A person of low status or humble provenance.
Походження
"1685, 'lowest sill of a house,' from mud + sill. The word entered U.S. political history"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)
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