reostuma

Reostuma is an Estonian verb meaning to become polluted or contaminated. It describes a process in which a substance, environment, or object acquires pollutants as a result of natural processes or human activity. The term is used in environmental science, public discourse, and everyday language to denote increasing or emerging pollution of air, water, soil, or surfaces.

Grammatical notes: Reostuma is intransitive and forms related nouns such as reostumine (the process of becoming polluted) and reostus (pollution, contamination). The past participle reostunud means polluted. Like other Estonian -uma verbs, its forms follow standard conjugation patterns across tense and mood.

Etymology and related terms: The word derives from the root reost- meaning pollution; it is connected to saaste (pollution) and the noun reostus (pollution) and reostunud (polluted).

Usage and contexts: The term often appears in environmental monitoring, policy texts, and media reporting about emissions, spills, or ecological damage. It can describe gradual deterioration (air reostub gradually) or sudden contamination after an incident, and it is applicable to air, water, soil, and surfaces. Reostuma is typically used when focusing on the process rather than the finished state, contrasting with the adjective form reostunud which describes something that is already polluted.