Etymology

contaminate

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Today it means: To make something dangerous or toxic by introducing impurities or foreign matter. Full definition →

Middle English contaminaten ← Latin contāminātus
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contaminate · verb1

  1. Latin · derived fromcontāminātus
  2. Middle English · inherited fromcontaminaten“to defile; to infect with desease”
  3. English todaycontaminate

First attested in the early 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English; from Middle English contaminaten (“to defile; to infect with desease”), from contaminat(e) (“sullied, defiled; infected with desease”, also used as the past participle of contaminaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), from Latin contāminātus, the perfect passive participle of contāminō (“to touch together, blend, mingle, corrupt, defile”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), which see for further informations. More at taste, tax, and taxi.

contaminate · adjective2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromcontaminat(e)“sullied, defiled; infected with desease”
  2. English todaycontaminate

First attested in the early 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English; from Middle English contaminat(e) (“sullied, defiled; infected with desease”, also used as the past participle of contaminaten), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more. Participial usage up until Early Modern English.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.