corruptadj.
/kəˈrʌpt/, U.S. /kəˈrəpt/ 1. Corrupted, depraved, spoiled. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > corruption > [adjective]
sickc960
foulOE
unwholec1000
thewlessa1327
corrupt1340
viciousc1340
unwholesomec1374
infecta1387
rustyc1390
unsound?a1400
rottenc1400
rotten-heartedc1405
cankereda1450
infectedc1449
wasted1483
depravate?1520
poisoned1529
deformed1555
poisonous1555
reprobate1557
corrupted1563
prave1564
base-minded1573
tainted1577
Gomorrhean1581
vice-like1589
depraved1593
debauched1598
deboshedc1598
tarish1601
sunk1602
speckled1603
deboist1604
diseased1608
ulcerous1611
vitial1614
debauchc1616
deboise1632
pravous1653
depravea1711
unhealthy1821
scrofulous1842
septic1914
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 82 Hare wyt is al myswent and corupt ase the zuelȝ of þe..wyfman grat myd childe.
c1386 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale ⁋167 A Iuge that may nat been deceyued ne corrupt.
1483 W. Caxton tr. A. Chartier Curial sig. ij That he be not corrupt or coromped.
?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xxii. f. 31 How he had corrupt the estates of Rome with his treasoure.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets cxxxvii. sig. Iv Eyes corrupt by ouer-partiall lookes. View more context for this quotation
II. Adjectival uses.† 3. Spoiled by base additions; adulterated; debased. Obsolete.
2.
a. Changed from the naturally sound condition, esp. by decomposition or putrefaction developed or incipient; putrid, rotten or rotting; infected or defiled by that which causes decay. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [adjective] > rotten or putrefied
forrottedc897
foulOE
rotted?c1225
rottena1250
corruptc1380
enraged1398
putrefieda1413
purulent?a1425
putrid?a1425
ranka1425
rottenly1435
corrupped1533
corruptious1559
attainted1573
rot1573
putrefacted1574
baggage1576
tainted1577
pourryc1580
corruptive1593
putrilaginous1598
putrefactious1609
taint1620
putid1660
rottenish1691
septic1746
corrupted1807
mullocky1839
rotty1872
seething1875
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > corruption or putridness > [adjective] > corrupt or putrid
rottingeOE
foulOE
rotted?c1225
rottena1250
corruptc1380
putrefieda1413
putrid?a1425
ranka1425
rottenly1435
pourryc1450
moskin1531
corrupped1533
corrupting1567
attainted1573
rot1573
putrefacted1574
baggage1576
tainted1577
pury1602
putrefactious1609
putrefactive1610
taint1620
putrescent1624
festerous1628
putid1660
scandalous1676
rottenish1691
putrefying1746–7
septic1746
corrupted1807
decomposing1833
decomposed1846
seething1875
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 91 Þou schalt have pestilence and fevere, cold, and brennynge hete, and corrupt aier.
c1386 G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale 1008 A wylde fyr and corrupt pestilence So falle vp on youre bodyes yet to nyght.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xvii. 76 Men duse it in medicines..for clensing of corrupte blude.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 52 It castiþ to þe wounde þe corrupt mater þat is in þe place þat is brusid.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. vii. f. ix A corrupte tree, bryngethe forthe evyll frute.
1563 W. Fulke Goodle Gallerye Causes Meteors iii. f. 29v It may breade wormes, as all other corrupte fleshe wyll doe.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 193 The water..hauing gotten a corrupt qualitie by the nature & corruption of the mettal.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 695 Vapour, and Mist, and Exhalation hot, Corrupt and Pestilent. View more context for this quotation
1767 B. Gooch Pract. Treat. Wounds I. 220 A corrupt and stagnant air causes various disorders, and the worst kind of fevers.
b. Said of the blood of one legally attainted: see corruption n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > withdrawal or loss of legal rights > [adjective] > involving loss of rights by conviction > attainted
attaint1303
attainted1596
corrupt1641
1641 Rastell's Termes de la Ley (new ed.) f. 89 When any is attainted of Felony or Treason, then his bloud is said to bee corrupt, by meanes whereof his children, nor any of his Bloud, cannot be heires to him, or to any other Ancestour.
a1832 J. Bentham Princ. Penal Law in Wks. (1843) I. 480 No title can be deduced through the corrupt blood of the father.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or state of being mixed or blended > [adjective] > mixed with something > adulterated
sophisticatec1400
adulterine1542
adulterous1547
corrupted1563
sophistered1567
corrupt1581
carded1596
adultered1603
sophisticated1607
adulterated1610
brackish1611
adulterate1634
sophistical1658
unsincere1664
doctored1784
alloyed1806
filled1887
1581 Act 23 Eliz. c. 8 §1 A greate parte of the waxe made and melted within this Realme hath byn founde to bee of late verye corrupt by reason of the deceyptfull mixture thereof.
1683 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1852) I. 86 They were tould it was about corrupt money.
4. Debased in character; infected with evil; depraved; perverted; evil, wicked.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > moral or spiritual degeneration > [adjective] > corrupted or corrupt
foul-stinkingOE
unwholesomec1374
corruptc1380
rotten1395
infecta1398
unsound?a1400
rotten-heartedc1405
infectedc1449
fly-blown1528
reprobate1531
corrupped1533
corrupted1563
poisoned1567
abusive?1585
debauched1598
deboshedc1598
deboist1604
debauchc1616
deboise1632
scrofulous1842
c1380 Antecrist in Todd 3 Treat. Wyclif 123 Þise corupt in mynde wiþstoden treuþ.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 281 He knew vche contre corupte in hit seluen.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. lxxxi. f. xxxiv Perceyuynge his corrupt mynde.
1557 Bible (Whittingham) Eph. iv. 29 Let no corrupt communication procede out of your mouthes.
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (i. 1) The corrupter that the world is, so muche the more carefully must wee shunne all noysome feloshippe.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iii. ii. 75 In Law, what plea so tainted and corrupt, But being season'd with a gracious voyce, Obscures the show of euill. View more context for this quotation
1641 J. Milton Animadversions 22 A Liturgie which had no being..but from the corruptest times.
1758 S. Hayward Seventeen Serm. i. 11 However disagreeable this truth may appear to corrupt nature.
a1854 H. Reed Lect. Brit. Poets (1857) viii. 281 Charles II came back..with tastes as corrupt as his morals.
1877 W. Sparrow Serm. viii. 101 A corrupt form of Christianity.
5. Perverted from uprightness and fidelity in the discharge of duty; influenced by bribery or the like; venal.
a. Of persons.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > illegal payment or exaction > [adjective] > of nature of bribe > able to be bribed
corrupt1393
wager1567
saleable1579
of sale1598
sale1604
vendible1609
shop-likea1637
emptitious1650
sellable1650
venal1670
bribable1724
on the take1930
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 217 But sodeinly the juge he nome, Which corrupt sat upon the dome.
1621 H. Elsynge Notes Deb. House of Lords (1870) 16 The L. Chancellor is accused to be a corrupt judge.
1777 E. Burke Corr. (1844) II. 194 There never was, for any long time, a corrupt representative of a virtuous people.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice I. iii. i. 232 He was shamefully corrupt in the disposition of his patronage.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 547 Those who receive the filthy lucre are corrupt already.
1876 N. Amer. Rev. 123 139 A corruptionist and the proprietor of a corrupt legislative squadron.
b. Of actions, etc. corrupt practices (at parliamentary, municipal, and other elections): such forms of bribery, direct or indirect, as are made illegal and punishable by the various Corrupt and Illegal Practices Acts, notably that of 1883.
ΚΠ
1563 in J. Strype Ann. Reformation (1725) I. xxxv. 387 That corrupt labour was made for his deliverance under queen Mary.
1631–2 High Commission Cases (Camden) 312 Discharged them..from being publique Notaryes, for their makeing of false and corrupt acts.
1810 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1838) V. 534 I have no reason to believe that there is anything corrupt in the transaction.
1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. i. viii. 117 The general laws against corrupt practices at elections.
6. Of language, texts, etc.: Destroyed in purity, debased; altered from the original or correct condition by ignorance, carelessness, additions, etc.; vitiated by errors or alterations.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > misinterpretation > distortion or perversion of meaning > [adjective]
corruptc1386
racked1546
detorted?1550
wrested1551
writhen1551
writhed1562
forced1583
tortured1603
strained1609
distorted1641
violented1641
crook1647
extorted1652
refracted1655
madly wrested1656
wry1663
corrupted1699
non-natural1844
the mind > language > a language > register > [adjective] > corrupted
corruptc1386
barbarous1526
bauger1544
basea1549
skew1607
impure1613
corrupted1699
doggy1880
corruptible1887
society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > textual criticism > version of text > [adjective] > altered by copyist or printer > erroneously
corrupt1535
corrupted1699
c1386 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 421 A maner Latyn corrupt was hir speche, But algates ther by was she vnderstonde.
1535 G. Joye Apol. Tindale 22 The copie was so corrupt.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. (1682) vii. 318 Both Tongues being a corrupt Arabick.
1733 L. Theobald Wks. Shakespeare I. Pref. p. xxxix Shakespeare's Case has in a great Measure resembled That of a corrupt Classic.
1733 L. Theobald Wks. Shakespeare I. Pref. p. xl The Emendation of corrupt Passages.
1772 J. Adams tr. A. de Ulloa Voy. S. Amer. (ed. 3) II. 30 Rimac, an Indian word..from a corrupt pronunciation of which word the Spaniards have derived Lima.
1831 T. B. Macaulay Boswell's Life Johnson in Ess. note A grossly corrupt passage from the Ἱκέτιδες of Euripides.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) II. App. 680 The text seems very corrupt.
1881 W. W. Skeat Etymol. Dict. at Necromancy Low Lat. nigromantia, corrupt form of necromantia.
Draft additions March 2004
Electronics and Computing. Of software or data: containing flaws or damaged in some way, esp. so as to be unusable or inaccessible by normal procedures. Also: (of a disk, card, etc.) containing software or data damaged in this way.
ΚΠ
1971 Real Time: Infotech State of Art Rep. 508 It is less risky to have such a program tested and available in advance, rather than having hastily to write a program that will..produce a corrected version of a corrupt file.
1990 Micro Decision Feb. 60/3 Experience teaches that sooner or later all key disks become corrupt.
2002 PC World (Nexis) 1 Aug. 183 The recovery process can also often be used to recreate corrupt files—something you previously needed a separate utility for.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
corruptv.
/kəˈrʌpt/, U.S. /kəˈrəpt/ 1.
a. transitive. To spoil or destroy (flesh, fruit, or other organic matter) by physical dissolution or putrid decomposition; to turn from a sound into an unsound impure condition; to cause to ‘go bad’; to make rotten or rotting. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > corruption or putridness > make corrupt or putrid [verb (transitive)]
corrump1340
corruptc1384
putrefya1400
fadec1400
rotc1405
corrup1483
rotten1569
attaint1573
carrionize1593
putrefact1598
ranken1599
decay1626
wrox1649
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > cause bad condition in [verb (transitive)] > cause to rot or putrefy
corrump1340
corruptc1384
putrefya1400
fadec1400
rotc1405
rotten1569
carrionize1593
putrefact1598
ranken1599
decay1626
wrox1649
ret1846
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. iv. 16 Thouȝ the ilke that is withoute~forth, oure man be corruptid; nethelees that man that is withinne forth, is renewid.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 221 A body may be fordoo and corrupted.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. iii. f. 16v The vytales [being] corrupted by takynge water at the riftes euyll closed.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 184, (margin) Bread corrupteth Hony.
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia v. 195 It being certainly the quality of the place, either to kill, or cure quickly, as the bodies are more or less corrupted.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. (1682) v. 184 The infectious air, that corrupted the blood of strangers.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) II. 175 Fruits, which..must have performed a voyage of sixty or fourscore leagues, without being corrupted.
b. figurative. Said in reference to the blood of attainted persons: see corruption n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > withdrawal or loss of legal rights > take away a right [verb (transitive)] > deprive of rights by conviction > attaint
attainta1400
to stain (a person's) blood1569
corrupta1616
taint1732
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) ii. iv. 93 And by his Treason, stand'st not thou attainted, Corrupted, and exempt from ancient Gentry? View more context for this quotation
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. §745 By his attainder of Treason or Felonie his blood is so stained and corrupted as..his children cannot be heyres to him.
1804 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. III. 380 The attainder of the father only corrupts the lineal blood, and not the collateral blood between the brothers.
2. † b. To adulterate. Obsolete.
a. To render unsound or impure by the contamination of putrid matter; to infect, taint, render morbid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > corruption or putridness > make corrupt or putrid [verb (transitive)] > make impure by contamination of putrid matter
corrupt1548
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > cause bad condition in [verb (transitive)] > cause to rot or putrefy > contaminate with putrid matter
corrupt1548
attaint1573
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. cxxiij [The town] was now infected and corrupted, with the pestilent plague: whereby twoo partes of the people..wer destroyed.
1563 W. Fulke Goodle Gallerye Causes Meteors ii. f. 16 This kynd of Exhalations, corrupteth the ayre, whiche infecteth the bodies of men & beastes.
1671 R. Bohun Disc. Wind 173 Suffocating Air, which infests the Burning Zone; where the whole Masse is corrupted with intolerable heats.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or state of being mixed or blended > mix or blend [verb (transitive)] > add as ingredient to a mixture > qualify by admixture > adulterate
adulterc1384
feigna1398
sophisticatec1400
infect?1440
counterfeit1495
adulterate?1526
dash1548
falsify1562
elay1573
abuse1574
base1581
corrupt1581
debase1591
adulterize1593
compass1594
sophisticate1604
allay1634
huckster1642
hucksterize1646
cauponize1652
alloy1661
balderdash1674
impurify1693
doctor1726
vitiate1728
sand1851
dope1898
1581 Act 23 Eliz. c. 8. §4 Everye Person and Persons that shall corrupte the Honny..with any deceyptfull myxture, shall forfeyte the Barrell.
1697 View Penal Laws 244 If any..Vintners shall Corrupt or Adulterate any Wine.
3. To render morally unsound or ‘rotten’; to destroy the moral purity or chastity of; to pervert or ruin (a good quality); to debase, defile.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > corruption > [verb (transitive)]
forbraidc888
besmiteeOE
awemOE
filec1175
soila1250
envenomc1300
beshrewc1325
shrew1338
corrumpa1340
corrupt1382
subvertc1384
tache1390
poison1395
infect?c1400
intoxicatec1450
deprave1482
corrup1483
rust1493
turkess?1521
vitiate1534
prevary?1541
depravate1548
fester?1548
turkish1560
wry1563
taint1573
disalter1579
prevaricate1595
sophisticate1597
invitiate1598
fashion1600
tack1601
debauch1603
deturpate1623
disaltern1635
ulcer1642
deboise1654
Neronize1673
demoralize1794
bedevil1800
society > morality > moral evil > moral or spiritual degeneration > degrading or impairing morally > degrade or impair morally [verb (transitive)] > corrupt
corrumpa1340
corrupt1382
perisha1400
cankera1450
gangrenate1532
putrefy?1548
cankerfret1585
debauch1603
fly-blow1605
bebauch1607
perjurea1616
ulcer1642
dross1648
deboise1654
gangrene1658
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Gen. vi. 12 Al forsothe flehs had coruptid his weie vpon the erthe.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 1553 (heading) How manes sinne þat i of mene, Corrupt all þis world bidene.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) 1 Cor. xv. 33 Be not deceaved: malicious speakinges corrupte good manners.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 349 That their virgynite shulde be corrupted.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iv. iii. 30 The fittest time to corrupt a mans Wife, is when shee's falne out with her Husband. View more context for this quotation
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. xxviii. 96 The worship of saints and relics corrupted the pure and perfect simplicity of the Christian model.
1837 H. Martineau Society in Amer. II. 360 The regard to wealth, as the most important object in life, which extensively corrupts Americans.
1872 J. Morley Voltaire iv. 148 Lewis XV., perhaps the most despicable of all the creatures that monarchy has ever corrupted.
4.
a. To destroy or pervert the integrity or fidelity of (a person) in his discharge of duty; to induce to act dishonestly or unfaithfully; to make venal; to bribe.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > illegal payment or exaction > [verb (transitive)] > bribe
meedOE
underorna1325
corrump1387
forbuy1393
hirec1400
wage1461
fee1487
under-arearc1503
bribe1528
grease1528
money1528
corrupt1548
budc1565
to feed with money1567
to put out a person's eyes with (a gift, bribe, etc.)1580
sweeten1594
to grease the fist or (one) in the fist1598
over-bribe1619
to buy off1629
palter1641
to take off1646
buy1652
overmoneya1661
bub1684
to speak to ——1687
to tickle in the palm1694
daub1699
overbuy1710
touch1752
palm1767
to get at ——1780
fix1790
subsidize1793
sop1837
to buy over1848
backsheesh1850
nobble1856
square1859
hippodrome1866
see1867
boodleize1883
boodle1886
to get to ——1901
reach1906
straighten1923
lubricate1928
to keep (someone) sweet1939
sling1939
to pay off1942
bung1950
society > morality > moral evil > moral or spiritual degeneration > degrading or impairing morally > degrade or impair morally [verb (transitive)] > corrupt > make venial
corrupt1548
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. cxxxviij By corruptying with money, diuerse Burgesses of the toune.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. ii. sig. N5v She ment him to corrupt with goodly meede. View more context for this quotation
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxvii. 154 Upon hope of escaping punishment, by corrupting publique Justice.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 226 Baxter was neither to be corrupted nor to be deceived.
1865 Mill in Morning Star 6 July A lavish expenditure of money, in corrupting the electors.
b. with adverbial complement.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iv. iii. 184 Whether..it were not possible with well-waighing summes of gold to corrupt him to a reuolt. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 368 The greatest part Of Mankind they corrupted to forsake God their Creator. View more context for this quotation
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones II. v. vii. 168 The Disease applies to the French military Politics and corrupts Nature over to his Side. View more context for this quotation
1798 Anti-Jacobin 11 June 243/2 Endeavouring, to corrupt the Waiter to mingle poison with the food.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > misrepresentation > misrepresent [verb (transitive)] > for evil purposes
corrupt1382
corrup1483
wrestc1530
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Prov. Prol. Oure writen thingis..that ben not coruptid.
1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. cxiiii That whiche is wryten, both playne and holely By theyr corruptynge and vnlawfull glose..they brynge to damnable heresy.
?1533 W. Tyndale Expos. Mathew Title-p. The restoringe agayne of Moses lawe corrupte by the Scrybes and Pharises.
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Cor. ii. 17 Wee are not as many which corrupt the word of God. View more context for this quotation
1659 J. Pearson Expos. Apostles Creed ii. 136 (note) The Mahometans, who could not deny but they [those words of the psalm] were spoken of the Messias, were forced to corrupt the text.
1709 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 4 Oct. The Hereticks corrupted the New Testament.
6. To destroy the purity of (a language), the correctness or original form of (a written passage, a word, etc.); to alter (language) for the worse as judged by the standard of the original.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > misinterpretation > distortion or perversion of meaning > pervert or distort [verb (transitive)]
crooka1340
deprave1382
pervertc1390
strainc1449
drawc1450
miswrest?a1475
bewrya1522
wry?1521
to make a Welshman's hose ofa1529
writhea1533
wrest1533
invert1534
wring?1541
depravate1548
rack1548
violent1549
wrench1549
train1551
wreathe1556
throw1558
detorta1575
shuffle1589
wriggle1593
distortc1595
to put, set, place, etc. on the rack1599
twine1600
wire-draw1610
monstrify1617
screw1628
corrupt1630
gloss1638
torture1648
force1662
vex1678
refract1700
warp1717
to put a force upon1729
twist1821
ply1988
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > corruption > [verb (transitive)] > of language or writings
corrumpa1340
corrupt1630
barbarize1728
the mind > language > a language > register > [verb (transitive)] > corrupt
corrump?a1400
corrupt1630
society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > textual criticism > version of text > create version of text [verb (transitive)] > alter or adapt (text) > erroneously
vitiate1659
corrupt1765
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 371 Their language is Italian, but corrupted with the Greeke, French, and Spanish.
1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. ii. i. 16 By the Spaniards Isles des Arenas, but the English Seamen..corrupt the Name strangely, and some call it the Desarts, others the Desarcusses.
1765 S. Johnson Pref. to Shakespear's Plays p. xlvi The faults of all [the publishers]..have..corrupted many passages perhaps beyond recovery.
1881 W. W. Skeat Etymol. Dict. at Cutlass Hence the word was corrupted to curtleaxe.
7. To spoil (anything) in quality:† a. a thing material. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > damage or injure [verb (transitive)]
mareOE
shendOE
hinderc1000
amarOE
awemc1275
noyc1300
touchc1300
bleche1340
blemisha1375
spill1377
misdoa1387
grieve1390
damagea1400
despoil?a1400
matea1400
snapea1400
mankc1400
overthrowa1425
tamec1430
undermine1430
blunder1440
depaira1460
adommage?1473
endamage1477
prejudicec1487
fulyie1488
martyra1500
dyscrase?1504
corrupt1526
mangle1534
danger1538
destroy1542
spoil1563
ruinate1564
ruin1567
wrake1570
injury1579
bane1587
massacre1589
ravish1594
wrong1595
rifle1604
tainta1616
mutilea1618
to do violence toa1625
flaw1665
stun1676
quail1682
maul1694
moil1698
damnify1712
margullie1721
maul1782
buga1790
mux1806
queer1818
batter1840
puckeroo1840
rim-rack1841
pretty1868
garbage1899
savage1899
to do in1905
strafe1915
mash1924
blow1943
nuke1967
mung1969
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. vi. f. vijv Gaddre not treasure together on erth, where rust and mothes corrupte [1611 doth corrupt, 1881 doth consume].
1646 R. Codrington Life & Death Illustrious Earle of Essex 24 Immoderate showres of Rain had so corrupted the ground, that the body of Foot could not march, nor the Trayne of Artillery move.
b. a thing not material: To spoil, mar. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > cause or effect (harm) [verb (transitive)] > do harm or injury to > affect detrimentally
atterc885
hurtc1200
marc1225
appair1297
impair1297
spilla1300
emblemishc1384
endull1395
blemishc1430
depaira1460
depravea1533
deform1533
envenom1533
vitiate1534
quail1551
impeach1563
subvert1565
craze1573
taint1573
spoil1578
endamage1579
qualify1584
stain1584
crack1590
ravish1594
interess1598
invitiate1598
corrupt1602
venom1621
depauperate1623
detriment1623
flaw1623
embase1625
ungold1637
murder1644
refract1646
depress1647
addle1652
sweal1655
butcher1659
shade1813
mess1823
puckeroo1840
untone1861
blue1880
queer1884
dick1972
forgar-
1602 J. Marston Hist. Antonio & Mellida iv. sig. G2v Thou hast had a good voice, if this colde marshe..haue not corrupted it.
1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 792 He was..called backe againe, for corrupting the hope conceiued of peace.
1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 161 The Princesse..finding now her pleasure corrupted with the feare of the Fleet that came towards her.
1833 Ld. Tennyson Blackbird 15 Plenty corrupts the melody That made thee famous once, when young.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > destroy constitution or existing form of
corrupt1660
1660 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. III. iv. 82 Of the corruption of the number Ten,..is generated the number Nine,..of nine corrupted, is generated ten, by addition of one.
1723 J. Clarke tr. Rohault's Syst. Nat. Philos. I. i. iv. 17 We say an Egg is corrupted, when we see the Egg no longer, but a Chicken in its Place.
9.
a. intransitive. To become corrupt or putrid, to ‘go bad’; to undergo decomposition; to putrefy, rot, decay.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > corruption or putridness > become corrupt or putrid [verb (intransitive)]
forrota900
foulOE
rotOE
rank?a1300
corrumpc1374
to-rota1382
putrefya1400
mourkenc1400
corruptc1405
festerc1475
decay1574
rankle1612
tainta1616
decompose1793
wrox1847
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > deteriorate in condition [verb (intransitive)] > rot or putrefy
forrota900
foulOE
rotOE
rank?a1300
corrumpc1374
to-rota1382
putrefya1400
mourkenc1400
corruptc1405
festerc1475
rottena1500
decay1574
rankle1612
tainta1616
moth1624
ret1846
wrox1847
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > corruption > [verb (intransitive)] > become corrupt
forbraidc1220
corruptc1405
ulceratea1425
rankle1612
deprave1655
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1886 The clothered blood for any lechecraft Corrupteth.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. DDv Take away the soule, & anon the body corrupteth and stynketh.
1563 W. Fulke Goodle Gallerye Causes Meteors v. f. 65v Gold neuer corrupteth by rust.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) v. ii. 40 All her Husbandry doth lye on heapes, Corrupting in it owne fertilitie. View more context for this quotation
1673 J. Milton On Death Fair Infant v, in Poems (new ed.) 18 Yet can I not perswade me thou art dead Or that thy coarse corrupts in earths dark wombe.
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 202 Stagnant Water is..very subject to corrupt, and to stink.
1803 W. Wittman Trav. in Turkey 69 The carcasses of dead animals..were scattered in great abundance among the tents, to corrupt and moulder away.
b. of moral decay.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > moral or spiritual degeneration > degenerate [verb (intransitive)] > become corrupt
rot?c1225
pervertc1475
putrefya1500
corrupt1598
gangrene1618
deprave1655
stink1934
1598 F. Meres Palladis Tamia In these declining and corrupting times.
1612 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 240 In a slothfull peace, both courages will effeminate, and manners corrupt.
1816 R. Southey Poet's Pilgrimage to Waterloo iv. 11 The human mind Corrupts and goes to wreck.
1872 C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David III. Ps. lviii. 8 Every unregenerate man is an abortion. He corrupts in the darkness of sin.
Draft additions March 2004
transitive. Electronics and Computing. To damage or introduce flaws into (software or data), esp. so as to render it unusable or inaccessible by normal procedures. Also: to make (a disk, card, etc.) unusable by damaging the software or data it contains.
ΚΠ
1969 Information & Control 15 397 A burst of length b can corrupt at most one of the parity checks.
1983 Austral. Micro Computer Mag. Oct. 21/1 Static electricity may also corrupt data on data storage media (floppy disk, cassette, hard disk, etc).
1993 Australian 5 Jan. (Brisbane ed.) 11/8 About 1500 customers of the TSB Bank in Taranaki had their Cashflow cards ‘corrupted’ last week by a computer software fault.
2002 Wired Aug. 27/2 The so-called embedded systems crammed into jets, cars, and ‘smart’ appliances increasingly rely on the same bug-ridden code that corrupts PowerPoint slides, freezes Ultima games midquest, and costs corporate America $293 billion a year in lost productivity.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1340v.1382