Embruing

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. The act of staining or soaking something deeply with a liquid, especially blood; to cover or imbue thoroughly with a substance or quality; the process of contaminating or corrupting morally or physically
2. The process of saturating or soaking an object thoroughly in a colored or tainted liquid, often blood; to deeply infuse or imbue with a particular element or characteristic; the act of marking or defiling in a profound way
3. The state of being drenched or dyed intensely with fluids such as blood; to permeate or imbue completely with a particular substance or essence; the act of sullying or tainting something deeply in a figurative or literal sense

Etymology: "Embrue" is a Middle English-era verb built from the prefix "em-" (a variant of "en-", meaning "in" or "into") and "brue," a form of "brew" in its old sense of soaking or steeping. To embrue something is, etymologically, to soak it in liquid, which is why the word has always leaned toward blood and dyeing. The earliest sense was literal: to stain or drench with fluid, and blood was the usual fluid. Over time the verb widened to figurative uses, so something could be imbued with a quality or essence, and the sense of tainting or sullying came from the same image of a surface soaked through. The participle "embruing" carries all these senses forward, which is why it can describe a literal drenching and a moral corruption with equal ease.

Synonyms: staining, tinging, dyeing