Meanings
plural contaminants
- That which contaminates; an impurity; foreign matter.
Put the lid on the jar to keep contaminants out.
Synonyms: contaminator, contamination, pollutant, adulterant, adulterator, contamination, contaminator, impurity
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThat which contaminates; an impurity; foreign matter.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchcontaminant
- Englishcontaminant
Borrowed from French contaminant, present participle of contaminer (“to contaminate”), from Latin contāmināre. By surface analysis, contaminate + -ant.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan contaminant
- contaminantthat which contaminates
Czech kontaminant
- kontaminantthat which contaminates
Dutch smetstof
- smetstofthat which contaminates
Indonesian kontaminan
- kontaminanthat which contaminates
Irish ábhar salaithe, ábhar truaillithe
- ábhar salaithethat which contaminates
- ábhar truaillithethat which contaminates
- éilleánthat which contaminates
Māori matū tāoke
- matū tāokethat which contaminates
Polish zanieczyszczenie
- zanieczyszczeniethat which contaminates
Portuguese contaminante
- contaminantethat which contaminates
Russian контамина́нт
- контамина́нт (kontaminánt)that which contaminates
Spanish contaminante
- contaminantethat which contaminates
Vietnamese chất gây ô nhiễm, chất gây bẩn
- chất gây ô nhiễmthat which contaminates
- chất gây bẩnthat which contaminates
Cite this entry
contaminant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contaminant
“contaminant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contaminant. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “contaminant,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contaminant.
Source: contaminant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.