taint
/teɪnt/ noun, verb
Forms taints tainting tainted
- noun A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food.
- noun A tinge, trace or touch.
- noun A mark of disgrace, especially on one's character; blemish.
- noun (obsolete) Tincture; hue; colour.
- noun (obsolete) Infection; corruption; deprivation.
- noun (programming) A marker indicating that a variable is unsafe and should be subjected to additional security checks.
- verb (transitive) To contaminate or corrupt (something) with an external agent, either physically or morally.
- verb (transitive) To spoil (food) by contamination.
- verb (intransitive) To be infected or corrupted; to be touched by something corrupting.
- verb (intransitive) To be affected with incipient putrefaction. “Meat soon taints in warm weather.”
- verb (transitive, computing, programming) To mark (a variable) as unsafe, so that operations involving it are subject to additional security checks.
- verb (transitive, Australia, finance) To invalidate (a share capital account) by transferring profits into it.
- noun A thrust with a lance, which fails of its intended effect.
- noun An injury done to a lance in an encounter, without its being broken; also, a breaking of a lance in an encounter in a dishonorable or unscientific manner.
- verb (transitive) To damage, as a lance, without breaking it; also, to break, as a lance, but usually in an unknightly or unscientific manner.
- verb (intransitive) To thrust ineffectually with a lance.
- noun (US, vulgar, slang) The perineum.
Synonyms
adulterant contamination pollutant adulterator contaminant contaminator impurity pollution sophisticant leper defile sully corrupt cloud infect
Etymology
From Middle French teint, from Old French teint (past participle of teindre (“to dye, to tinge”)), from Latin tinctum (past participle of tingere); compare tint.
From Middle English taynt, aphetic form of attaynt, atteynt, from Old French atteinte (“a blow, stroke”). Compare with attaint.
Reportedly from the phrase “'tain't your balls and 'tain't your ass”. Ascribed to E.E. Landy's Underground Dict. (1972) is the following explanation: ‘'taint their ass and 'taint their pussy.’
Contraction of it + ain't.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A thrust with a lance, which fails of its intended effect. [Obs.]
- noun An injury done to a lance in an encounter, without its being broken; also, a breaking of a lance in an encounter in a dishonorable or unscientific manner. [Obs.]
- verb To thrust ineffectually with a lance. [Obs.]
- verb To injure, as a lance, without breaking it; also, to break, as a lance, but usually in an unknightly or unscientific manner. [Obs.]
Etymology [Cf. F. atteinte a blow, bit, stroke. See Attaint.]
Etymology [F. teint, p.p. of teindre to dye, tinge, fr. L. tingere, tinctum. See Tinge, and cf. Tint.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “taint”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details