debauch
/dɪˈbɔːt͡ʃ/ noun, verb
Forms debauches debauching debauched debosh
- noun An individual act of debauchery.
- noun An orgy.
- verb (transitive) To morally corrupt (someone); to seduce.
- verb (transitive) To debase (something); to lower the value of (something).
- verb (intransitive) To indulge in revelry.
Synonyms
immoralize lead astray sophisticate adulterate corrupt demoralize detort file pervert pollute preposterate seduce suborn subvert tamper unmoralize vitiate warp abase degrade orgy debauchery saturnalia riot bacchanal bacchanalia drunken revelry demoralise debase profane
Etymology
1590s, from Middle French desbaucher (“entice from work or duty”), from Old French desbauchier (“to lead astray”), from des- + bauch (“beam”), from Frankish *balkō, from Proto-Germanic *balkô, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“beam, plank”); latter origin of balk.
Evolution of sense unclear; may be literally “to shave/trim wood to make a beam” or may be “to leave/lure someone from a workshop”, Frankish *balkō perhaps also meaning “workshop”.
Possible corruption by way of Anglicised French term bord (“edge, curb”): curb crawling as a synonym for prostitution. Parallels in modern German: Bordsteinschwalbe (“prostitute”, literally “Curb-stone-swallow”). English words bawd, bawdiness may be similarly connected.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To lead away from purity or excellence; to corrupt in character or principles; to mar; to vitiate; to pollute; to seduce; as, to debauch one's self by intemperance; to debauch a woman; to debauch an army.
- noun Excess in eating or drinking; intemperance; drunkenness; lewdness; debauchery.
- noun An act or occasion of debauchery.
Etymology [F. débaucher, prob. originally, to entice away from the workshop; pref. dé- (L. dis- or de) + OF. bauche, bauge, hut, cf. F. bauge lair of a wild boar; prob. from G. or Icel., cf. Icel. balkr. See Balk, n.]
Etymology [Cf. F. débauche.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “debauch”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details