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
- (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.
- (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.