mid-14c., of material things, especially dead bodies, also of the soul, morals, etc., from Fr. corruption, from L. corruptionem, noun of action from corrumpere (see corrupt). Of public offices from early 15c.; of language from late 15c.
c.1300, from L. corruptus, pp. of corrumpere "to destroy, spoil, bribe," from com- intens. prefix + rup-, pp. stem of rumpere "to break" (see rupture).
"large triangular sail," 1866, either a derivative of spin in the sense of "go rapidly" or a corrupt pronunciation of Sphinx, which was the name of the first yacht known to carry this type of sail.
1400, in ref. to wounds, ulcers, etc., "full of corrupt or poisonous matter," from L. virulentus "poisonous," from virus "poison" (see virus). Fig. sense of "violent, spiteful" is attested from 1607.
"corrupt contract that sacrifices public for private interest," 1862, from sell (v.) + out. The verbal phrase sell out "prostitute one's ideals or talents" is attested from 1888.
c.1793, "to corrupt the morals of," from Fr. demoraliser, from de- "remove" + moral (adj.) (see moral). Said to be a coinage of the Fr. Revolution. Sense of "lower the morale of" (especially of armies) is first recorded 1848.
c.1320, of persons, "diseased, wounded," from un- (1) "not" + sound (adj.). Cf. M.L.G. unsund, M.Du. ongesont, Ger. ungesund. Meaning "morally corrupt" is recorded from c.1300; that of "not mentally healthy" is from 1547. Sense of "not based on reasoning or fact" is attested from 1595.
c.1300, from O.Fr. sodomie, from L.L. peccatum Sodomiticum "anal sex," lit. "sin of Sodom," from L. Sodoma, ult. from Heb. s'dom "Sodom," morally corrupt city in ancient Palestine, said to have been destroyed, with neighboring Gomorrah, by fire from heaven (Gen. xviii-xix). Sodomize coined 1868. In Du. slang, besodemieteren means "to deceive," and evidently is built from the traditional notion of "corruption" in Sodom.
c.1369, "wicked," from O.Fr. pervers, from L. perversus "turned away (from what is right), contrary, askew," pp. of pervertere "to corrupt" (see pervert). The L. word is glossed in O.E. by forcerred, from p.p. of forcyrran "to avoid," from cierran "to turn, return." Meaning "wrong, not in accord with what is accepted" is from c.1568; sense of "obstinate, stubborn" is from 1579. It keeps the non-sexual senses of pervert (v.) and allows the psychological ones to go with perverted.
1570s, "to corrupt, contaminate," also "to trouch, tinge, imbue slightly" (1590s), from M.E. teynten "to convict, prove guilty" (late 14c.), partly from O.Fr. ataint, pp. of ataindre "to touch upon, seize" (see attainder). Also from Anglo-Fr. teinter "to color, dye" (early 15c.), from O.Fr. teint (12c.), pp. of teindre "to dye, color," from L. tingere (see tincture).
children's game, from marble; first recorded by that name in 1709 but probably older (it was known in 13c. Ger. as tribekugeln) and originally played with small balls of polished marble or alabaster, later clay; the modern glass ones with the colored swirl date from 1840s. Meaning "mental faculties, common sense" is from 1927, Amer.Eng. slang, perhaps from earlier slang marbles "furniture, personal effects, 'the goods' " (1864), a corrupt translation of Fr. meubles (pl.) "furniture."
c.1500, from L. adulterationem (nom. adulteratio), from adulteratus, pp. of adulterare "corrupt, debauch," from ad- "to" + L.L. alterare "to alter" (see alter).
c.1420, from L. interruptus, pp. of interrumpere "break apart, break off," from inter- "between" + rumpere "to break" (see rupture, and compare corrupt).
early 13c., from O.N. rotinn "decayed," pp. of verb related to rotna "to decay," from P.Gmc. stem *rut- (see rot). Sense of "corrupt" is from late 14c.; weakened sense of "bad" first recorded 1881. Rotter "objectionable person" is recorded from 1894. Rotten apple is from a saying traced back to at least 1528: "For one rotten apple lytell and lytell putrifieth an whole heape."
"foreign speech," 1660, possibly a corrupt form of lingua franca (q.v.), or from Prov. lingo "language, tongue," from O.Prov. lenga, from L. lingua "tongue" (see lingual).
c.1175 (implied in robber), from O.Fr. rober, from a Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. roubon "to rob," roub "spoil, plunder;" O.E. reafian, source of the reave in bereave), from P.Gmc. *raubojanan, from *raub- "to break."
"Lord, hou schulde God approve þat þou robbe Petur, and gif þis robbere to Poule in þe name of Crist?" [Wyclif, c.1380]
To rob the cradle is attested from 1940s. Robber baron in the "corrupt, greedy financier" sense is attested from 1878.
1526, "to persuade a vassal, etc., to desert his allegiance or service," from L. seducere "lead away, lead astray," from se- "aside, away" + ducere "to lead." Replaced M.E. seduisen (1477), from M.Fr. séduire "seduce," from O.Fr. suduire "to corrupt, seduce," from L. subducere "draw away, withdraw, remove," from sub- "from under, further" + ducere "to lead" (see duke). Sexual sense, now the prevailing one, is attested from 1560. Seductive is from 1771; seductress is from 1803.
early 14c. (implied in viciously), "of the nature of vice, wicked," from Anglo-Fr. vicious, O.Fr. vicieus, from L. vitiosus "faulty, defective, corrupt," from vitium "fault" (see vice (1)). Meaning "inclined to be savage or dangerous" is first recorded 1711 (originally of animals, especially horses); that of "full of spite, bitter, severe" is from 1825. In law, "marred by some inherent fault" (late 14c.), hence also this sense in logic (c.1600); cf. vicious circle in reasoning (c.1792), which was given a general sense of "a situation in which action and reaction intensify one another" by 1839.
"voluntary violation of the marriage bed," c.1300, avoutrie, from O.Fr. avoutrie, aoulterie, noun of condition from avoutre/aoutre, from L. adulterare "to corrupt" (see adulteration). Modern spelling, with the re-inserted -d-, is from early 15c. (see ad-). Classified as single adultery (with an unmarried person) and double adultery (with a married person). O.E. word was æwbryce "breach of law(ful marriage)." Adultery Dune in Arizona corresponds to Navajo sei adilehe "adultery sand" and was where illicit lovers met privately.
c.1300 (trans.), "to turn someone aside from a right religious belief to a false or erroneous one," from O.Fr. pervertir, from L. pervertere "corrupt, turn the wrong way, turn about," from per- "away" + vertere "to turn" (see versus). The noun is 1661, from the verb. Replaced native froward, which embodies the same image. The noun is attested from 1661, "one who has forsaken a doctrine or system regarded as true, apostate;" psychological sense of "one who has a perversion of the sexual instinct" is attested from 1897 (Havelock Ellis), originally esp. of homosexuals. Perv, short for sexual pervert (n.), is first recorded 1944.
"unwell," O.E. seoc, from P.Gmc. *seukaz, of uncertain origin. The general Gmc. word (cf. O.N. sjukr, Dan. syg, O.S. siok, O.Fris. siak, M.Du. siec, O.H.G. sioh, Goth. siuks "sick, ill"), but in Ger. and Du. displaced by krank "weak, slim," probably originally with a sense of "twisted, bent" (see crank). Meaning "having an inclination to vomit" is from 1614; sense of "tired or weary (of something)" is from 1597; phrase sick and tired of is attested from 1783. Meaning "mentally twisted" is from 1551 (though sense of "spiritually or morally corrupt" was in O.E.), revived 1955. Sick joke is from 1959; sicko (n.) is from 1977. Sickening "causing revulsion" is first recorded 1789. The noun meaning "those who are sick" was in O.E. Sickness is O.E. seocnesse; sickly "ailing" is recorded from c.1350.
O.E. ful "dirty, stinking, vile, corrupt," from P.Gmc. *fulaz (cf. O.H.G. fül, M.Du. voul, Ger. faul, Goth. füls), from base *fu-, corresponding to PIE *pu-, perhaps from the sound made in reaction to smelling something bad (cf. Skt. puyati "rots, stinks," putih "foul, rotten;" Gk. puon "discharge from a sore;" L. pus "putrid matter," putere "to stink," putridus "rotten;" Lith. puviu "to rot"). Of weather, first recorded late 14c. In the sporting sense of "irregular, unfair" it is first attested 1797, though foul play is recorded from mid-15c. O.E. ful occasionally meant "ugly" (as contrasted with fæger (adj.), modern fair), a sense frequently found in M.E., and the cognate in Swed. is the usual word for "ugly." Foulmouthed first attested 1590s in Shakespeare. Foulmart was a M.E. word for "polecat" (from O.E. mearð "marten"). As a verb, it is from O.E. fulian.
Related: Fouled; fouling.