contaminate
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French contaminer, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin contaminare (“to touch together, blend, mingle, corrupt, defile”), from contamen (“contact, defilement, contagion”), related to tangere.
Pronunciation
Verb
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- (transitive) To make something dangerous or toxic by introducing impurities or foreign matter.
- This water is contaminated. It isn't safe to drink.
- (transitive) To soil, stain, corrupt, or infect by contact or association.
- Shakespeare
- Shall we now / Contaminate our figures with base bribes?
- Goldsmith
- 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)[1], London, page R11:
- [Martin] Heidegger's repellent political beliefs do not contaminate his philosophical work.
- Shakespeare
- (transitive) To make unfit for use by the introduction of unwholesome or undesirable elements.
- Do not contaminate the peanut butter with the jelly.
- To infect, often with bad objects
Related terms
Translations
To introduce impurities or foreign matter
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Further reading
- “contaminate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “contaminate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “contaminate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Italian
Verb
contaminate
- second-person plural present of contaminare
- second-person plural imperative of contaminare
- feminine plural past participle of contaminare
Latin
Verb
(deprecated template usage) contāmināte
Categories:
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian verb forms
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin verb forms