Ooze - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

OOZE (0. Eng. wise, cognate with an obsolete waise, mud; cf. O. Nor. veisa, muddy pool), the slime or mud at the bottom of a river, stream, especially of a tidal river or estuary, and so particularly used in deep-sea soundings of the deposit of fine calcareous mud, in which remains of foraminifera are largely present. The word "ooze" is also used as a technical term in tanning, of the liquor in a tan vat in which the hides are steeped, made of a solution of oak bark or other substances which yield tannin. This word is in origin different from "ooze" in its first sense. It appears in O. Eng. as wos, and meant the juice of plants, fruits, &c.