corrupt

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

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

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /kəˈɹʌpt/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌpt

Adjective

corrupt (comparative more corrupt, superlative most corrupt)

  1. Willing to act dishonestly for personal gain; accepting bribes.
  2. In a depraved state; debased; perverted; morally degenerate; weak in morals.
    The government here is corrupt, so we'll emigrate to escape them.
  3. 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.
  4. In a putrid state; spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound.
    • 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, OCLC 837543169:
      with such corrupt and pestilent bread to feed them.

Synonyms

Collocations
with nouns
  • corrupt practice
  • corrupt state
  • corrupt country
  • corrupt nation
  • corrupt regime
  • corrupt city
  • corrupt government
  • corrupt person
  • corrupt man
  • corrupt politician
  • corrupt mayor
  • corrupt judge
  • corrupt member
  • corrupt minister
  • corrupt file
  • corrupt database
  • corrupt document
  • corrupt woman

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!
  2. (archaic, intransitive) To become putrid, tainted, or otherwise impure; to putrefy; to rot.
    • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “8. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], OCLC 1044372886:
      he entrails, which are the parts aptest to corrupt
    • 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. (transitive) To introduce errors; to place into an invalid state.
    Unplugging a flash drive without dismounting it first can corrupt the data stored on the drive.
  4. To debase or make impure by alterations or additions; to falsify.
    to corrupt language, or a holy text
    to corrupt a book
  5. To waste, spoil, or consume; to make worthless.

Translations

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

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin corruptus or from Middle French corrupt.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /kɔˈrʏpt/
  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: cor‧rupt
  • Rhymes: -ʏpt

Adjective

corrupt (comparative corrupter, superlative corruptst)

  1. corrupt (lacking integrity, being prone to discriminating, open to bribes, etc.)
    Het bleek lastig om corrupte topambtenaren uit het bestuursapparaat te verwijderen.
    It turned out to be hard to remove corrupt high-ranking officials from the civil service.
  2. (textual criticism) corrupt (containing (many) errors)
    De tekst is op deze plaats zo corrupt dat iedere reconstructie op zand gegrondvest is.
    The text is so corrupt in this passage, that any reconstruction would be built on sand.
  3. deprave, morally corrupt
    De Grote Oorlog toonde hem dat de wereldorde corrupt was.
    The Great War showed him that the world order was corrupt.

Inflection
Inflection of corrupt
uninflected corrupt
inflected corrupte
comparative corrupter
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial corruptcorrupterhet corruptst
het corruptste
indefinite m./f. sing. corruptecorrupterecorruptste
n. sing. corruptcorruptercorruptste
plural corruptecorrupterecorruptste
definite corruptecorrupterecorruptste
partitive corruptscorrupters—

Descendants
  • Afrikaans: korrup
  • → Indonesian: korup
  • → West Frisian: korrupt

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin corruptus.

Adjective

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

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