Tainting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The action of compromising the integrity of a substance through contamination or corrupting influences leads to a diminished state of quality or purity
2. The process of introducing a harmful or undesirable element that reduces the purity or quality of something
3. The effect of adding a damaging substance or influence that causes a loss of original freshness or integrity

Etymology: Before it meant contamination, "taint" was a legal and military word for a blow that wounds or damages, and the modern sense of spoiling something grew out of the idea of a wound or hurt. The English form descends from Middle English "taynt," a shortened form of "attaynt" or "atteynt," borrowed from Old French "atteinte," meaning "a blow, stroke." Over time the sense moved from physical injury to moral and material harm, so that a thing could be damaged or stained rather than struck. A second, unrelated source lies behind the same spelling. Old French "teint," the past participle of "teindre" ("to dye, to tinge"), came from Latin "tinctum," which is also the root of "tint." That line gave English a sense of colouring or staining, and the two strands drifted close enough in meaning that writers and speakers now tend to hear the notion of a discoloured or spoiled surface in the word. The word is also a contraction of "it" and "ain't," and a popular playful explanation links it to a vulgar phrase; that connection is folk etymology and has no support in the established history of the word.

Synonyms: staining, contaminating

Antonyms: purifying, cleansing