Cesspool & Cesspit

Cesspool (pronounced ses-pool)

(1) A cistern, or sump for the temporary retention of the sediment of a drain or for receiving the sewage or waste-water from a house or other building; also called a sink.

(2) As a casual description, any filthy receptacle or place.

(3) By extension, any place of corruption, iniquity, moral filth, depravity or immorality:

1670s: From the early Modern English cess-pool & sesspool (cistern or well to receive sediment or filth).  The origin is (perhaps expectedly) murky.  It may be from the Italian cesso (privy) from the Latin secessus & rēcessusrecess (“place of retirement” and, in Late Latin "privy or drain") documented in English since the 1580s.  It seems convincing because the dialectal form was suspool, from suss & soss (puddle; mire) or cess (a bog on the banks of a tidal river).  Another theory of the seventeenth century shift involves the influence of the French cesperalle, an alteration of the Middle English suspiral, from the Old & Middle French souspirail (air hole; a vent for air) from soupirer & souspirer (to sigh, breathe), from the Latin suspirare.  Other speculation is it may have been either an alteration of cistern or a shortened form of recess or the whole may be an alteration of the (circa 1400) suspiral (drainpipe), from the Old French sospiral (a vent, air hole) from sospirer (breathe) from the Latin suspirare (breathe deep).  The fact the meaning extended to "tank at the end of the pipe," does make plausible a possible folk-etymology change in final syllable.  Gongpit was the most attractive of the nicknames, most of the others predictably more overtly scatological.

Pool is from the Middle English pool, pole & pol, from the Old English pōl (pool), from the Proto-Germanic pōlaz (pool, pond), from the primitive Indo-European bōlos (bog, marsh).  It was cognate with the Scots puil (pool), the Saterland Frisian Pol (pool), the West Frisian poel (pool), the Dutch poel (pool), the Low German Pohl & Pul (pool), the German Pfuhl (quagmire, mudhole), the Danish pøl (puddle), the Swedish pöl (puddle, pool), the Icelandic pollur (puddle), the Lithuanian bala (bog, marsh, swamp, pool), the Latvian bala (a muddy, treeless depression), the Russian боло́то (bolóto) (swamp, bog, marsh).

Cesspit (pronounced ses-pit)

(1) A pit for the temporary retention of the sediment of a drain or for receiving the sewage or waste-water from a house or other building; also called a sink.

(2) As a casual description, any filthy receptacle or place.

(3) By extension, any place of corruption, iniquity, moral filth, depravity or immorality:

1860–1865, the construct being cess + pit.  Pit is pre-900, from the Middle English pit, pet & püt, from the Old English pytt, from Proto-West Germanic puti, from the Latin puteus (trench, shaft, pit, well), the verb derivative of the noun; that seems the consensus although many etymologists note the some phonetic inconsistencies.  The unrelated use as a verb, as pit, pitted, pitting in the sense of removing the pit from a fruit or fruits is an Americanism from 1835-1845, influenced both by pith and the Dutch kernel.

Cesspits, cesspools, and the swamp

A cesspit.

In modern plumbing, cesspits, cesspools and septic tanks are alike in construction, none being connected to a main sewer system, the difference being cesspools and cesspits do not include a treatment system.  Pre-war English legislation best illustrates the difference between cesspits and cesspools which, prior to the Public Health Act (1936), were different things.  Cesspits resembled wells, circular brick chambers built about 6 feet (1.8m) deep in the ground, acting like a soakaway.  The design was flawed because the drains would eventually back up so the Public Health Act prohibited the use of cesspits, requiring other drainage methods to be used so after 1936, only cesspools and septic tanks were installed but, other than professional plumbers or public health specialists, few noticed or cared much to explore the difference so, among the public, cesspit and cesspool came to be used interchangeably and thought to mean much the same thing.

A cesspool.

A modern cesspool is a watertight, fibreglass storage tank which holds sewage and is stored underground in a pit. It does not have an outlet or any apparatus to carry out any treatment process, the only piping being that connect to a relief valve which prevents any build-up of hazardous gasses.  Cesspools thus demand regular emptying by a licensed waste disposal company, which is why they’re now usually only a temporary solution.  The frequency with which they must be emptied differs and is predictably dictated by the variables: the size of the tank, and the volume of material it receives, calculations based usually on the number of people serviced by the unit.  Cesspools are normally used in locations which don’t have access to mains drainage, holiday homes, camp sites and places where the discharge of effluent into the ground is not possible because of unsuitable soil.  Although not always required by local ordinances, cesspits should be fitted with an alarm that notifies when the tank is approaching capacity, manufacturers caution it’s not advised to open the lid to check the level because noxious gasses will be emitted, unpleasant at least and potentially hazardous if inhaled.

A septic tank.

A septic tank is similar to a cesspit, the tank construction almost identical and also installed underground and not connected to a main sewer system.  Where a septic tank differs is in being a component of a sewage treatment system where the wastewater, or effluent, drains into a soakaway after treatment.  The tank has two or three chambers which separate waste into liquids and solids, and then the liquids (effluent) move through an outlet into a soakaway chamber or drainage system.  A soakaway, known also as a drainage field, is a system of piping which is designed to spread liquids evenly into the surrounding soil.  To avoid blockages, septic tanks need annually to be emptied of the residual solid waste, again a task which should be undertaken only by a professional.  In the modern, urban environment, cesspools should really be regarded a temporary device because they’re not only expensive to maintain bur are a potential contaminant as untreated effluent can overflow into the surrounding environment. Septic tanks have a treatment system and are thus safer but are still a compromise and the most economic and convenient option is, wherever possible, connect to a mains system.

Washington Post, 13 December 2016.

Because of the stench and squalor summoned by the imagination whenever the words cesspit and cesspool are mentioned, they’ve long been a favorite piece of imagery when speaking of corrupt or morally bankrupt assemblies of politicians or other self-interested souls.  Despite the technical differences in the plumbing arrangements, when used figuratively, cesspool and cesspit are interchangeable, the choice depending only on which best suits the rhythm of the sentence in which it appears.  Both describe a place hidden from view where sewage gathers, a pool full of nastiness, a place swimming with grubs and corruption.  The attraction of using it when speaking of politics is obvious but Donald Trump (b 1946; US president 2017-2021), in the 2016 presidential campaign instead choose the catchy phrase “drain the swamp” to express much the same idea.  When in office, there was scant evidence of any drainage although he certainly took the opportunity to toss into the swamp a few creatures of his choice.  He did at least mention the problem, something which few professional politicians have ever been interested in doing but the swamp-like nature of electoral politics is a product of incumbency and the more prolonged the longevity, the greater the opportunity further to rig the system to gain even more time in the swamp while gorging at the trough (an unfortunate mix of metaphors but a vivid image).  The core value of democracy is the election but perhaps its most corrupting aspect is the re-election.  Were term limits introduced, preferably as single terms of a reasonable length, perhaps four years, one of the great drivers of political corruption would be removed.  It should be assumed this will never be done.

The notion of Donald Trump cleaning up the cesspool of corruption in politics was one idea.  There have been other suggestions. 

Pit

Pit (pronounced pit)

(1) A naturally formed or excavated hole or cavity in the ground.

(2) A covered or concealed excavation in the ground, serving as a trap for animals.

(3) In extractive mining, an excavation made in exploring for or removing a mineral deposit (also known (at scale) as “open-cut” as opposed to “underground” (although in casual use sometime used also of the mineshafts used in underground operations.  It can in mining slang also refer to an entire mine site, regardless of the mode of extraction.

(4) The stone of a fruit (cherry, peach, plum etc) and technically, the hard, inner layer (the endocarp) of certain drupes.

(5) The abode of evil spirits and lost souls; hell; the depths of Hades.

(6) In slang (as “the pits”) an extremely unpleasant, boring, or depressing place, condition, person, etc; the absolute worst (used also as a clipping of armpits).

(7) A hollow or indentation in a surface (in substances like glass or when referring to surfaces (paint, varnish etc), treated usually as an imperfection).

(8) In physiology, natural hollow or depression in the body, organ, structure or part; fossa (used most often of the small of the back).

(9) In medicine, a small, indented scar, as one of at the site of a former pustule after smallpox, chicken pox or similar diseases; a pockmark.

(10) In music, a section of the marching band containing mallet percussion instruments and other large percussion instruments too large to march, such as the tam tam; the area on the sidelines where these instruments are placed.

(11) In botany, any of various small areas in a plant cell wall that remain un-thickened when the rest of the cell becomes lignified (used especially of the vascular tissue).

(12) In archaeology, a hole or trench in the ground, excavated according to grid coordinates, so that the provenance of any feature observed and any specimen or artifact revealed may be established by precise measurement.

(13) An enclosure, usually below the level of the spectators, as for staging fights between dogs, cocks, or, formerly, bears (as cockpit later extended to aircraft, cars, boats etc).

(14) In physical markets (such as a commodity exchange), a part of the floor of the exchange where trading is conducted (known in some places as “as open outcry pits” because transactions were done by traders shouting offers & acceptances at each other).

(15) In architecture, all that part of the main floor of a theater behind the musicians (in UK use also the main floor of a theater behind the stalls); sometimes used as “orchestra pit” (the area that is occupied by the orchestra in a theatre, located in front of the stage)

(16) In a hoist-way, a space below the level of the lowest floor served.

(17) In motorsport, an area at the side of a track, for servicing and refueling the cars (the use later adopted by cycle racing).

(18) In ten-pin bowling, the sunken area of a bowling alley behind the pins, for the placement or recovery of pins that have been knocked down.

(19) In track athletics,  the area forward of the takeoff point in a jumping event, as the broad jump or pole vault, that is filled with sawdust or soft earth to lessen the force of the jumper's landing.

(20) In casinos, the area or room containing gambling tables.

(21) In aviation, the part of the aircraft (usually the bottom of the fuselage) given over to freight; a luggage hold.

(22) In American football, the center of the line.

(23) In hospital slang, the emergency department.

(24) Literally, the bottom part (lowest point) of something; figuratively an undesirable location (especially if dirty, dangerous etc).

(25) In military slang, a bed (some evidence also of civilian (presumably ex-military) use).

(26) In nuclear physics, the core of an implosion nuclear weapon, consisting of the fissile material and any neutron reflector or tamper bonded to it.

(27) To mark or indent with pits or depressions.

(28) In medicine, to scar with pockmarks.

(29) In physiology (of body tissue) temporarily to retain a mark of pressure, as by a finger, instrument, etc.

(30) To place or bury something in a pit, as for storage.

(31) To set in opposition or combat, as one against another (usually in the forms “pit against” or “pitted against”).

(32) In motorsport, to exit from the track, entering the pits, to permit the pit-crew to effect a pit-stop.

(33) To remove the stone of a fruit (cherry, peach, or plum), sometimes with the use of a pitter (if something done vocationally, by a pitter, usually with the use of a pitter).

Pre 900: From the Middle English noun pit, pittle, pite, pute, put & putte, from the Old English pytt (natural or man-made depression in the ground, water hole, well; grave (the Kentish variation was “pet”), from the Proto-West Germanic puti, from the Proto-Germanic putt- (pool, puddle) which was the source also of the Old Frisian pet, the Old Saxon putti, the Old Norse pyttr, the Middle Dutch putte, the Dutch put, the Old High German pfuzza and the German Pfütze (pool, puddle), an early borrowing from Latin puteus (pit, trench, shaft) (etymologists noting the phonetic difficulties which exist also in the speculated relationship between puteus and the primitive Indo-European root pau- (to cut, strike, stamp).  Because the short u makes it unlikely puteus was from paviō (to strike), it might instead be linked to putāre (to prune) but the distance between the meanings makes etymologists just as sceptical and some suggest puteus may be a loanword though the spelling might be mysterious.  The use in the context of stone fruit was an Americanism dating from 1841, from the Dutch pet (kernel, seed, marrow), from the Middle Dutch pitte & pit (kernel, core (and cognate with pith)), from the Proto-Germanic pittan (the dialectal German Pfitze (pimple) was an oblique of the Proto-Germanic piþō), from the Proto-Germanic pithan- (source of pith).  Like the use in other contexts, each instance of the verb was derivative of the noun.  Pit is a noun & verb, pitter is a noun and pitted & pitting are verbs; the noun plural is pits.

Ford GT40 pit-stop, Sebring 12 Hours, International Championship for Makes, Sebring, March 1966.

The meaning “abode of evil spirits, hell” dates from the late twelfth century, one of the many means in the medieval world of referring to hell.  The meaning “very small depression or dent in the surface of an object” was in use by the early 1400s, the anatomical sense of “natural depression or hollow in some part of the body” from more than a century earlier.  The “pit of the stomach” was in the literature by the 1650s and it was so-called from the slight depression there between the ribs; the earlier terms used by doctors were the late fourteenth century breast-pit and heart-pit from circa 1300.  The meaning “part of a theater on the floor of the house, lower than the stage” was known by the 1640s while in market trading, the sense of “that part of the floor of an exchange where business is carried on” was first documented in 1903 as a coining in US English.

One of the high-water marks of the analog era: cockpit of the Anglo-French Concorde.

The phrase money-pit in the sense of “an edifice or project requiring constant outlay of cash with little to show for it” is quite modern, dating only from 1986 and assumed derived from the popular movie of the same name of the same name released that year (though it’s not impossible it had earlier been in regional use).  The prior use had been in the 1930s when it was used of the shaft on Oak Island, Nova Scotia which legend suggested would lead one to treasure buried by Captain Kidd or some other pirate.  Popular Mechanics magazine in September noted wryly the term might better refer to the millions spent trying to get the treasure out than the hoard of gold itself and in 2022, entrepreneurial engineer Elon Musk (b 1971) produced a variation, describing the factories in Europe building the electric Tesla cars as “money furnaces”.  The ash-pit (repository for ashes, especially the lower part of a furnace) dates from 1797 and it replaced the earlier (1640s) ash-hole, reflecting the implications of industrialization as forges and furnaces grew larger.  The venomous snake the pit-viper was so-named in 1872 because of the characteristic depression between the eyes and nose.  In commercial forestry, the pit-saw was first described in the 1670s, referring to a large saw operated by two men, one (the pit-sawyer) standing in the pit below the log being sawed, the other (the top-sawyer) standing atop.  Pitman was one of a wealth of vocationally-derived surnames which began to appear late in the twelfth century and it referred to one who dwelled literally “in or by a pit or hollow”, the use to describe someone who “works in a pit or mine” not documented until 1761.  Pitman shorthand, a popular form of hand-written transcription of spoken-word text which could later be read by a typist (often the “shorthand-taker) came into use in the 1860s, having been devised by English teacher & publisher (and devoted vegetarian) Sir Isaac Pitman (1813-1897) in 1837.  The phrase “flea-pit” dates from the 1920s and was used of cinemas, an allusion to the seats being infested with fleas or other bugs.

A Lindsay Lohan pit-stop from the blooper tape, Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005).

The noun armpit was a mid-fourteenth century description of the “hollow place under the shoulder” and it ran in parallel with the earlier arm-hole although the latter use faded as it came to be used of clothing and as an anatomical descriptor it was obsolete by the mid seventeenth century.  There was also the early fifteenth century asselle, from the Old French asselle, from the Latin axilla but armpit prevailed.  The colloquial phrase “armpit of the nation” was used as a term of derision for any place thought ugly and disgusting and it’s not clear when it emerged but it was well-documented from the early 1960s.  The general term “the pits” was a variation and from late in the twentieth century applied to anything or anyone thought the worse possible of their type (ie based on something hairy, smelly and ugly).  Infamously, it was used by the US tennis player John McEnroe (b 1959) who at Wimbledon in 1981 called an umpire “the pits of the world” during one of their discussions.  The noun pitter (curved instrument for removing stones from cherries and other fruit” appeared in 1868 when pitters were made available as a commercial product (doubtlessly they had for centuries been improvised or adapted from other utensils) and where they were used vocationally, the user was also called a pitter, the same linguistic process which produced the dual use of shucker in the oyster business (the termed adopted also by others).  Pit-a-pat & pitter-pat, being imitative, are wholly unrelated and date from the 1520s, the noun emerging in 1580.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner cockpit.

The original cockpits were first described in the 1580s and were a “pit or enclosed space for fighting cocks”, the use soon extended to any space in which animals were set to fight to the death, the audience betting on the outcome.  From this came the verb use “to pit against” which meant “to put or set in or into a pit” and this soon extended to boxing; by the eighteenth century in figurative use it was used on any conflict, argument or rivalry.  The general verb use (make pits in; form a small pit or hollow) had been in used (as pit, pitted & pitting) by the late fifteenth century.  The dog breed pit-bull dates from 1922 and was short for pit-bull terrier (first registered in 1912), a type noted for its aggression a fighting abilities.  Cockpit was used of ships early in the eighteenth century of midshipmen's compartment below decks and in some cases was later applied also to the enclosed cabins located towards the centre of the deck began to replace the steerage systems at the stern (later universally known as the “bridge”.  It was picked up for the pilot’s compartment in aircraft in 1914 and (by extension) was used in racing cars in the 1930s.  The word cesspit was created in the 1860s because advances in plumbing meant something was needed to distinguish more modern systems handling sewerage from the earlier cesspool, in use since the 1670s.  The mid fourteenth century pitfall (concealed hole into which a person or animal may fall unawares) was a description of a physical danger which came into figurative in the early 1600s to refer to “any hidden danger or concealed source of disaster.  In mining, a pitfall could also be literally a collapse of the internal structure of a mineshaft, sometime because of the catastrophic failure of pit-props (the timbers which provided the structural integrity of a shaft).  Sometimes a mile or more deep, pitfalls frequently were fatal and the death-toll among miners was high, the phrase “pit-hell” often heard.

The original pits at the Indianapolis Speedway, 1913. 

It was difficult and expensive (and often impossible) to lift heavy machinery to allow mechanics to work on engines or other components so, where possible, it was better to construct a pit underneath from which people could work.  The concept was well documented in workshops by 1839 and the term was by 1912 picked up in motorsport to describe the “area at the side of a track where cars are serviced and repaired” and the early pits were often holes in the ground with waist-high surrounds in which the crew could stand.  They were used also to store spare tyres, parts lubricants etc.  As the sport boomed, the pits quickly became fully enclosed service areas and even garages, built along pit-lane.  When a driver brought his car into the pits (located on the stretch of track called pit-straight), they were said to be pitting to be worked on by the pit crew who might during the pit-stop make repairs, re-fuel or change tyres, either in front of or behind the pit-wall.  Pit crew became a popular term beyond the tracks, used of airline baggage handlers, sea-port staff etc.  In motorsport, a pit-babe is an attractive young lady who is in the pit area for some reason, not necessarily directly related to the competition.

The pit-babes: coming or going, they always look good. 

Sump

Sump (pronounced suhmp)

(1) A hollow or pit into which liquid drains, such as a cesspool, cesspit or sink (sump a common alternative name for a cesspool).

(2) In machinery, a chamber at the bottom of a machine, pump, circulation system, etc, into which a fluid drains before recirculation or in which wastes gather before disposal.

(3) In internal combustion engines, the lowest (except in dry-sump systems) part of the crankcase of an internal-combustion engine, into which lubricants drain to form a reservoir.

(4) In mining or other extractive industries, a space where water is allowed to collect at the bottom of a shaft or below a passageway; the lowest part of a mineshaft into which water drains.

(5) In drilling, a pilot shaft or tunnel pushed out in front of a main bore.

(6) A synonym for crankcase (pre-war British-English, now obsolete).

(7) In certain British-English dialects, a swamp, bog, or muddy pool (now mostly obsolete except for historic references).

(8) In construction, an intentional depression around a drain or scupper that promotes drainage.

(9) In nautical use, the the pit at the lowest point in a circulating or drainage system.

(10) In spelunking, a completely flooded cave passage, sometimes passable by diving.

1375-1425: From the Middle English sompe, (marsh, morass) from either the Middle Dutch somp or the Middle Low German & Middle Dutch sump (cognate with German Sumpf), from the Old Saxon sump, from the Proto-West Germanic sump, all Germanic forms ultimately from the Proto-Germanic sumpaz (linked also to swamp), from the primitive Indo-European swombho- (spongy).  Variations of the Middle English forms (related to marshes and swamps) had been used in locality names since the mid-thirteenth century but, untypically, this appears not to have led to their adoption as surnames based on a family's proximity to such places.  That's presumably because of the historical aversion to such dank, smelly sites, moistness rarely viewed favorably where water is stagnant.    The meaning "pit to collect water" was first noted in the 1650s and in English the most common meaning (a reservoir of fluid to lubricate machinery) was picked up by analogy and the first sump-pump was installed for mine-drainage in 1884.  The alternative spelling was sumph, obsolete since the seventeenth century.  Sump is a noun & verb, sumped is a verb; the noun plural is sumped.

The dry sump

A dry sump schematic. 

The somewhat misleadingly-named dry sump is a system for lubricating engines with oil drawn from a remote reservoir rather than a pan mounted at the lowest point beneath the engine.  Advantages are (1) increased power through lower crankshaft friction, (2) larger oil capacity, (3) consistent oil-pressure through removal of g-force effects, (4) reduced centre of gravity through lower mounting of the engine and (5) simplified oil-pump maintenance (the accessibility improved by the external mounting).  Disadvantages are (1) cost, (2) complexity and (3) a slight increase in weight.

Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 (W109, 1968-1972, left) & 450 SEL 6.9 (W116, 1975-1981, right)

When Mercedes-Benz developed the 450 SEL 6.9 to replace the 300 SEL 6.3, the engine’s (the M-100) wet sump was changed to dry.  This wasn’t to gain the dry-sump’s traditional benefits but an engineering necessity imposed by the new model’s lower hood (bonnet)-line.  With the wet sump installed, the big V8 simply wouldn’t fit.  The term "wet sump" is usually tautological but is used when discussing engines equipped variously with both simply to ensure there's no confusion.

Of sumps and sumptuousness  

Lindsay Lohan in 2011 Maserati Gran Turismo, Los Angeles, 2011.  Especially since the 1980s, Maseratis have been noted for their sumptuous interior appointments, the timberwork and soft leather making an inviting cabin.  Most version of the Gran Turismo (2007-2019) used a conventional wet sump but the Gran Turismo MC Stradale (2011-2015), a high-performance version of the Gran Turismo S (2008-2012), was dry sumped.

Linguistically promiscuous, English is a slut of a language which has picked up words from around the world, keeping them if they seem useful (even assimilating them as English words) and discarding them as they fall from use or can be replaced by something better.  This has advantages in flexibility and avoids the duplication which would ensue were new forms created.  It can however be confusing for those learning English because different traditions use varied spelling and phonetic conventions so what one root or element borrowed by English for one purpose might appear in conflict with another.  For someone learning English it would be reasonable to assume the meaning of the adjective "sumptuous" would be “of or pertaining to the design or construction of sumps” whereas it’s actually used to demote something “magnificent, lavish, splendid or luxurious”.  There are few images more disparate than a sump and something sumptuous.  Sumptuous was from the French somptueux, from the Latin sumptuōsus, from sūmptus (costly, very expensive; lavish, wasteful), the construct being sumō (I take) +‎ -tus (the noun forming suffix), the past participle of sumere (to borrow, buy, spend, eat, drink, consume, employ, take, take up), a contraction of subemere, the construct being sub- (under) + emere (to take, buy) from the primitive Indo-European root em- (to take, distribute).  The most common derived forms are the noun sumptuousness and the adverb sumptuously.