contaminate

English

Etymology 1

First attested in the early 15^th century, in Middle English; from Middle English contaminaten (“to defile; to infect with desease”), from contaminat(e) (“sullied, defiled; infected with desease”, also used as the past participle of contaminaten) +‎ -en (verb-forming suffix), from Latin contāminātus, the perfect passive participle of contāminō (“to touch together, blend, mingle, corrupt, defile”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), which see for further informations. More at taste, tax, and taxi.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈtæmɪneɪt/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /kənˈtæmɪneɪt/, (/æ/ raising) [kənˈtɛəm.ɪ.neɪt]

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

  • Audio (New Jersey):

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• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /kənˈtæmɪnæɪt/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /kənˈtɛmənæɪt/

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To make something dangerous or toxic by introducing impurities or foreign matter.

   Synonyms: poison, pollute, taint

   This water is contaminated. It isn't safe to drink.

   • 2025 November 20, Simmone Shah, “Ukraine to Claim $44bn in Climate Damages From Russia. Why War Is So Bad For Emissions”, in TIME‎^[1], archived from the original on 8 December 2025:

     Bombs and munitions meanwhile contain toxic substances that contaminate soil, water, and vegetation.

2. (transitive) To soil, stain, corrupt, or infect by contact or association.

   Synonyms: defile, pollute, sully; see also Thesaurus:dirty, Thesaurus:pervert

   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     Shall we now
     Contaminate our figures with base bribes?

   • 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC:

     I would neither have simplicity imposed upon, nor virtue contaminated.

   • 2014 April 12, Michael Inwood, “Martin Heidegger: the philosopher who fell for Hitler [print version: Hitler's philosopher]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)‎^[2], London, page R11:

     [Martin] Heidegger's repellent political beliefs do not contaminate his philosophical work.

3. (transitive) To make unfit for use by the introduction of unwholesome or undesirable elements.

   Synonyms: mar, mess up, ruin; see also Thesaurus:spoil

   Do not contaminate the peanut butter with the jelly.

4. (transitive) To infect, usually of a deadly virus.

   Synonyms: disease, leper

Derived terms

• biocontaminate
• contaminator
• cross-contaminate
• decontaminate
• noncontaminating
• recontaminate
• uncontaminate

Related terms

• contaminable
• contamination
• contaminative

Translations

To introduce impurities or foreign matter

• Bulgarian: замърсявам (bg) (zamǎrsjavam), извършвам зловредно вмешателство (izvǎršvam zlovredno vmešatelstvo)
• Catalan: contaminar (ca)
• Cherokee: ᎧᏁᏌᏢᏍᎦ (kanesatlvsga)
• Czech: znečistit (cs), kontaminovat
• Danish: forurene (da), kontaminere
• Esperanto: kontaĝi (eo)
• Finnish: saastuttaa (fi), pilata (fi)
• French: contaminer (fr), salir (fr)
• Galician: contaminar (gl)
• German: verunreinigen (de); verseuchen (de), kontaminieren (de) (poison or pathogen)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: μιαίνω (miaínō), μολύνω (molúnō)

• Irish: truailligh
• Italian: contaminare (it)
• Latin: contāminō
• Lithuanian: užteršti
• Māori: whakananu, whakaparu (in general), tāhawahawa (with something tapu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kontaminere (no)

• Polish: zatruwać (pl), skazić
• Portuguese: contaminar (pt)
• Russian: загрязня́ть (ru) impf (zagrjaznjátʹ), загрязни́ть (ru) pf (zagrjaznítʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: truaill
• Swedish: kontaminera (sv)
• Turkish: kirletmek (tr)

Etymology 2

First attested in the early 15^th century, in Middle English; from Middle English contaminat(e) (“sullied, defiled; infected with desease”, also used as the past participle of contaminaten), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more. Participial usage up until Early Modern English.

Adjective

contaminate (comparative more contaminate, superlative most contaminate) (obsolete)

1. (used as a participle) Contaminated.
   • c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 89, column 1:

     And that this body conſecrate to thee,
     By Ruffian Luſt ſhould be contaminate!

2. (figuratively) Dirty, sinful, wicked, gross, etc.

Further reading

• “contaminate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “contaminate”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “contaminate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Italian

Verb

contaminate

1. inflection of contaminare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative
   3. feminine plural past participle

Anagrams

• manentatico

Latin

Verb

contāmināte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of contāminō

Spanish

Verb

contaminate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of contaminar combined with te