• Contaminate

    Pronunciation

    Origin

    From Old French contaminer, from Latin contaminare ("to touch together, blend, mingle, corrupt, defile"), from contamen ("contact, defilement, contagion"), related to tangere.

    Full definition of contaminate

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To introduce impurities or foreign matter to.Do not contaminate the peanut butter with the jelly.This water is contaminated. It isn't safe to drink.
    2. (transitive) To soil or corrupt by contact; to tarnish; to pollute.
      • ShakespeareShall we now
        Contaminate our figures with base bribes?
      • GoldsmithI would neither have simplicity imposed upon, nor virtue contaminated.
    © Wiktionary