taint

C2+ Topic:Environment & Ecology

US /teɪnt/ UK /teɪnt/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like tent /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/

Meanings

1

verb
to contaminate or corrupt; a trace of contamination

One scandal can taint an otherwise spotless reputation.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to contaminate or corrupt;... contaminate corrupt pollute tarnish sully blemish infect

Opposites

purify cleansedecontaminate

Word family

Forms tainted

Derived forms taintedtainting

Related forms attaint tincture tinge

Etymology

From Middle English, partly from Old French teint ('tinged, dyed', past participle of teindre 'to dye') and partly an aphetic form of attaint, both ultimately from Latin tingere ('to dye, moisten').

teindre Old French tingere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Environment & Ecology Actions & Processes

External links

# taint

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /teɪnt/
**IPA (UK):** /teɪnt/

## Meanings
1. to contaminate or corrupt; a trace of contamination

## Examples
- One scandal can taint an otherwise spotless reputation.

## Synonyms
- contaminate
- corrupt
- pollute
- tarnish
- sully
- blemish
- infect

## Antonyms
- purify
- cleanse
- decontaminate

## Derived Forms
- tainted
- tainting

## Related Forms
- attaint
- tincture
- tinge

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: teindre
- Root: tingere

## Etymology
From Middle English, partly from Old French teint ('tinged, dyed', past participle of teindre 'to dye') and partly an aphetic form of attaint, both ultimately from Latin tingere ('to dye, moisten').

## AI Etymology
Taint comes from Middle English, partly from Old French teint ('tinged, dyed', past participle of teindre 'to dye') and partly an aphetic form of attaint, both ultimately from Latin tingere ('to dye, moisten'). The historical trail runs through Old French teindre and Latin tingere. In modern use it means to contaminate or corrupt; a trace of contamination. Derived formations include tainted, tainting; related forms include attaint, tincture, tinge.

## Topics
- Environment & Ecology
- Actions & Processes

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