corruption English · revision 5806

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1340|origins=la corruptio}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kəˈrʌp.ʃən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English corrupcioun, [[bor|fro|corruption]],^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998) from [[la|corruptiō|t=a spoiling, seducing; a corrupt condition]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) a noun of action from the past participle of [[m|la|corrumpere|t=to destroy, spoil; to seduce, bribe]] (see [[corrupt]]).^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Decomposition after death: before 1340 in the OED,^(OED 1989) while Etymonline has the mid-14th century, of dead bodies and of the soul's depravity.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Destruction or spoiling in general is from 1377,^(OED 1989) and putrid matter, pus, from the late 14th century, now dialect.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Wright 1898) Of public offices, bribery and other dishonest influence is from the early 15th century,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) and the alteration of language or of a text from the late 15th century.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) A corrupt form of a word is from the 1690s.^(Etymonline) ''Corruption of blood'', the effect of an attainder that stopped a person inheriting or passing on land, is from 1563.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) The change of an institution for the worse is from the mid-17th century.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1340 – decay of a dead body.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1377 – destruction, spoiling.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 15th century – bribery.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1563 – ''corruption of blood''.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 15th century – altering of a text.^(SOED 2002)

+ * 1690s – a corrupt form of a word.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Dishonest or illegal behaviour by people in power, especially [[bribery]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Moral decay; [[depravity]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The changing of a word or text so that it differs from the original, or the changed form: ''a corruption of the Latin''.^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Decay or rotting.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[anticorruption]]

+ * [[corruptionist]]

+ * [[incorruption]]

+ * [[corruption of blood]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[corrupt]]

+ * [[rupture]]

+ * [[erupt]]

+ * [[bankrupt]]

+ * [[interrupt]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}