The Collaborative International Dictionary
Mudsill \Mud"sill`\, n.
The lowest sill of a structure, usually embedded in the soil; the lowest timber of a house; also, that sill or timber of a bridge which is laid at the bottom of the water. See Sill.
Fig.: A person of the lowest stratum of society; -- a term of opprobrium or contempt. [Southern U. S.]
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1680s, "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 scornfully to the very mudsills of society, and the term subsequently was embraced by Northern workers in the pre-Civil War sectional rivalry.
Wiktionary
alt. 1 The lowest sill of a structure, usually placed in or on the ground. 2 (context figuratively English) A particularly low or dirty place/state; the nadir of something (see rock bottom) 3 (context dated US southern US English) A person of low status or humble provenance. n. 1 The lowest sill of a structure, usually placed in or on the ground. 2 (context figuratively English) A particularly low or dirty place/state; the nadir of something (see rock bottom) 3 (context dated US southern US English) A person of low status or humble provenance.
Usage examples of "mudsill".
Senate a few years ago, every society rests upon a mudsill of brute labor, from which the edifice of civilization arises.
But then we should only have required some other mudsill upon which to build our society.
We need to bring everyone here tomorrow morning to flush the mudsill out and finish him off.
Northern mudsills whom you affect to despise, and we came down here to lick you into respecting us.
All the main supports, which are five feet apart, are firmly set in mudsills, and the boxes or troughs rest in brackets four feet apart.