contaminate

English

Etymology

From Latin contaminare (“to tough together, blend, mingle, corrupt, defile”), from contamen (“contact, defilement, contagion”), related to tangere.

Pronunciation

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Verb

contaminate (third-person singular simple present contaminates, present participle contaminating, simple past and past participle contaminated)

1. To introduce impurities or foreign matter; to soil or defile.

   Do not contaminate the peanut butter with the jelly.

Related terms

• contaminable
• contamination
• contaminative

Translations

To introduce impurities or foreign matter; to soil or defile

Bulgarian: замърсявам (bg) Czech: znečistit (cs), kontaminovat (cs) Danish: forurene (da), kontaminere (da) Finnish: saastuttaa (fi), pilata (fi)

German: verunreinigen; verseuchen, kontaminieren (poison or pathogen) Italian: contaminare (it) Scottish Gaelic: truaill (gd) Swedish: kontaminera

External links

• contaminate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• contaminate in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• contaminate at OneLook Dictionary Search

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Italian

Verb

contaminate

1. second-person plural present tense of contaminare
2. second-person plural imperative of contaminare
3. feminine plural past participle of contaminare

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Latin

Verb

contāmināte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of contāminō