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Webster 1913 Edition

Corrupt

Cor-ruptˊ

(k?r-r?pt′)
,
Adj.
[L.
corruptus
, p. p. of
corrumpere
to corrupt;
cor-
+
rumpere
to break. See
Rupture
.]
1.
Changed from a sound to a putrid state; spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound.
Who with such
corrupt
and pestilent bread would feed them.
Knolles.
2.
Changed from a state of uprightness, correctness, truth, etc., to a worse state; vitiated; depraved; debased; perverted;
as,
corrupt
language;
corrupt
judges
.
At what ease
Might
corrupt
minds procure knaves as
corrupt

To swear against you.
Shakespeare
3.
Abounding in errors; not genuine or correct;
as, the text of the manuscript is
corrupt
.

Cor-rupt′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Corrupted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Corrupting
.]
1.
To change from a sound to a putrid or putrescent state; to make putrid; to putrefy.
2.
To change from good to bad; to vitiate; to deprave; to pervert; to debase; to defile.
Evil communications
corrupt
good manners.
1. Cor. xv. 33.
3.
To draw aside from the path of rectitude and duty;
as, to
corrupt
a judge by a bribe
.
Heaven is above all yet; there sits a Judge
That no king can
corrupt
.
Shakespeare
4.
To debase or render impure by alterations or innovations; to falsify;
as, to
corrupt
language; to
corrupt
the sacred text
.
He that makes an ill use of it [language], though he does not
corrupt
the fountains of knowledge, . . . yet he stops the pines.
Locke.
5.
To waste, spoil, or consume; to make worthless.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt
.
Matt. vi. 19.

Cor-rupt′

(k?r-r?pt′)
,
Verb.
I.
1.
To become putrid or tainted; to putrefy; to rot.
Bacon.
2.
To become vitiated; to lose purity or goodness.

Webster 1828 Edition

Corrupt

CORRUPT

,
Verb.
T.
[L., to break.] Literally, to break, separate or dissolve. Hence,
1.
To change from a sound to a putrid or putrescent state; to separate the component parts of a body, as by a natural process, which accompanied by a fetid smell.
2.
To vitiate or deprave; to change from good to bad.
Evil communications corrupt good manners. 1 Corinthians 15.
3.
To waste, spoil or consume.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt. Matthew 6.
4.
To defile or pollute. Exodus 32.
5.
To entice from good and allure to evil. 2 Corinthians 11.
6.
To pervert; to break, disobey or make void. Malachi 2.
7.
To pervert or vitiate integrity; to bribe; as, to corrupt a judge.
8.
To debase or render impure, by alterations or innovations; as, to corrupt language.
9.
To pervert; to falsify; to infect with errors; as, to corrupt the sacred text.

CORRUPT

, v.i.
1.
To become putrid; to putrefy; to rot. Animal and vegetable substances speedily corrupt in a warm and moist air.
2.
To become vitiated; to lose purity.

CORRUPT

,
Adj.
[L.]
1.
Changed from a sound to a putrid state, as by natural decomposition.
2.
Spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound; as corrupt air, or bread.
3.
Depraved; vitiated; tainted with wickedness.
They are corrupt; they have done abominable works. Psalm 14.
The earth was corrupt before God. Genesis 6.
4.
Debased; rendered impure; changed to a worse state; as corrupt language.
5.
Not genuine; infected with errors or mistakes. The text is corrupt.

Definition 2024

corrupt

corrupt

English

Adjective

corrupt ‎(comparative more corrupt, superlative most corrupt)

  1. In a depraved state; debased; perverted; morally degenerate; weak in morals.
    The government here is corrupt, so we'll emigrate to escape them.
    • Shakespeare
      At what ease / Might corrupt minds procure knaves as corrupt / To swear against you.
  2. Abounding in errors; not genuine or correct; in an invalid state.
    The text of the manuscript is corrupt.
    It turned out that the program was corrupt - that's why it wouldn't open.
  3. In a putrid state; spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound.
    • Knolles
      Who with such corrupt and pestilent bread would feed them.

Usage notes

  • Nouns to which "corrupt" is often applied: practice, state, country, nation, regime, city, government, person, man, politician, leader, mayor, judge, member, minister, file, database, document, woman.

Quotations

  • 1611, Bible (KJV):, Genesis 6:11
    The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

Synonyms

Translations

Verb

corrupt ‎(third-person singular simple present corrupts, present participle corrupting, simple past and past participle corrupted)

  1. (transitive) To make corrupt; to change from good to bad; to draw away from the right path; to deprave; to pervert.
    Don't you dare corrupt my son with those disgusting pictures!
    • 1611, Bible (KJV):, Genesis 6:12
      And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
  2. (intransitive) To become putrid or tainted; to putrefy; to rot.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)
    • 1732, George Smith, Institutiones Chirurgicæ: or, Principles of Surgery, [...] To which is Annexed, a Chirurgical Dispensatory, [...], London: Printed [by William Bowyer] for Henry Lintot, at the Cross-Keys against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet, OCLC 745299684, page 254:
      […] Lanfrank takes Notice of Tract. 3. Doct. 3. cap. 18. ſaying, "I have ſeen many who being full of Humours, have made an Iſſue under the Knee, before due Purgation had been premis'd; whence, by reaſon of the too great Defluxion of Humours, the Legs tumified, ſo that the cauterized Place corrupted, and a Cancer (or rather cacoethic Ulcer) was thereby made, with which great Difficulty was cur'd."
  3. To debase or render impure by alterations or innovations; to falsify.
    to corrupt language, or a holy text
  4. To waste, spoil, or consume; to make worthless.
    • Bible, Matthew vi. 19
      Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt.

Translations

Related terms

References

  • corrupt in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • corrupt in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin corruptus.

Adjective

corrupt m ‎(feminine singular corrupte, masculine plural corrupts, feminine plural corruptes)

  1. corrupt (impure; not in its original form)

Etymology

From Middle English corrupten, from Old French corropt, from Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpō, corrumpere ‎(“to destroy, ruin, injure, spoil, corrupt, bribe”), from com- ‎(“together”) + rumpere ‎(“to break in pieces”).

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ʌpt

Similar Results