What does contāminō mean in Latin?

contāminō, a verb, means “to touch, bring into contact; to corrupt, contaminate, defile, stain, pollute”.

What are the principal parts of contāminō?

contāminō, contāmināre, contāmināvī, contāminātum (first conjugation).

How do you pronounce contāminō?

In classical Latin, [kɔnˈtaː.mɪ.noː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [konˈtaː.mi.no].

Which English words come from contāminō?

English words that go back to Latin contāminō include contaminate, contamination and incontaminate.

verbfirst conjugation

contāminō

contāminō (present infinitive contāmināre, perfect active contāmināvī, supine contāminātum)

Classical[kɔnˈtaː.mɪ.noː]Ecclesiastical[konˈtaː.mi.no]

contāminātus perf. pass. ptcp.

Meaning

to touch, bring into contact
to corrupt, contaminate, defile, stain, pollute

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

sordidum, turpe faciō

defile

contāminō -āre — in De Bello Gallico III, ch. 15

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Contaminare · Inquinare · Polluere

Contaminare (from contingo, contagio) means defilement in its pernicious effect, as the corruption of what is sound and useful; inquinare (from cunire, or from πίνος), in its loathsome effect, as marring what is beautiful, like μορύσσειν; polluere (from pullus, πελλός), in its moral effect, as the desecration of what is holy and pure, like μιαίνειν. Cic. Cæcil. 21, 70. Judiciis corruptis et contaminatis; compare with Cœl. 6. Libidinibus inquinari; and Rosc. Am. 26, 71. Noluerunt in mare deferri, ne ipsum pollueret, quo cætera quæ violata sunt, expiari putantur. (ii. 56.)

Conjugation conjugation 1

active indicative
form	present	imperfect	future	perfect	pluperfect	fut. perfect
1st sg.	contāminō	contāminābam	contāminābō	contāmināvī	contāmināveram	contāmināverō contāminārō
2nd sg.	contāminās	contāminābās	contāminābis	contāmināvistī contāmināstī	contāmināverās contāminārās	contāmināveris
3rd sg.	contāminat	contāminābat	contāminābit	contāmināvit	contāmināverat contāminārat	contāmināverit contāminārit
1st pl.	contāmināmus	contāminābāmus	contāminābimus	contāmināvimus	contāmināverāmus	contāmināverimus contāminārimus
2nd pl.	contāminātis	contāminābātis	contāminābitis	contāmināvistis contāmināstis	contāmināverātis contāminārātis	contāmināveritis contāmināritis
3rd pl.	contāminant	contāminābant	contāminābunt	contāmināvērunt contāmināvēre, contāminārunt	contāmināverant contāminārant	contāmināverint contāminārint

active subjunctive

active subjunctive
form	present	imperfect	perfect	pluperfect
1st sg.	contāminem	contāminārem	contāmināverim contāminārim	contāmināvissem contāmināssem
2nd sg.	contāminēs	contāminārēs	contāmināverīs	contāmināvissēs contāmināssēs
3rd sg.	contāminet	contāmināret	contāmināverit contāminārit	contāmināvisset contāmināsset
1st pl.	contāminēmus	contāminārēmus	contāmināverīmus contāminārīmus	contāmināvissēmus contāmināssēmus
2nd pl.	contāminētis	contāminārētis	contāmināverītis contāminārītis	contāmināvissētis contāmināssētis
3rd pl.	contāminent	contāminārent	contāmināverint contāminārint	contāmināvissent contāmināssent

passive indicative

passive indicative
form	present	imperfect	future
1st sg.	contāminor	contāminābar	contāminābor
2nd sg.	contāmināris contāmināre	contāminābāris contāminābāre	contāmināberis contāminābere
3rd sg.	contāminātur	contāminābātur	contāminābitur
1st pl.	contāmināmur	contāminābāmur	contāminābimur
2nd pl.	contāmināminī	contāminābāminī	contāminābiminī
3rd pl.	contāminantur	contāminābantur	contāminābuntur

passive subjunctive

passive subjunctive
form	present	imperfect
1st sg.	contāminer	contāminārer
2nd sg.	contāminēris contāminēre	contāminārēris contāminārēre
3rd sg.	contāminētur	contāminārētur
1st pl.	contāminēmur	contāminārēmur
2nd pl.	contāminēminī	contāminārēminī
3rd pl.	contāminentur	contāminārentur

imperative

imperative
form	active	passive
pres. 2nd sg.	contāminā	contāmināre
pres. 2nd pl.	contāmināte	contāmināminī
fut. 2nd sg.	contāminātō	contāminātor
fut. 3rd sg.	contāminātō	contāminātor
fut. 2nd pl.	contāminātōte	—
fut. 3rd pl.	contāminantō	contāminantor

infinitives & participles
form	active	passive
present infinitive	contāmināre	contāminārī
perfect infinitive	contāmināvisse contāmināsse	contāminātum esse
future infinitive	contāminātūrum esse	contāminātum īrī
present participle	contāmināns	—
perfect participle	—	contāminātus contāmināta, contāminātā, contāminātae, contāminātam, contāminātārum, contāminātās, contāminātī, contāminātōrum, contāminātōs
future participle	contāminātūrus contāminātūra, contāminātūrā, contāminātūrae, contāminātūram, contāminātūrārum, contāminātūrās, contāminātūre, contāminātūrī, contāminātūrīs, contāminātūrō, contāminātūrōrum, contāminātūrōs, contāminātūrum	contāminandus contāminanda, contāminandā, contāminandae, contāminandam, contāminandārum, contāminandās, contāminande, contāminandīs, contāminandōrum, contāminandōs

gerundcontāminandī, contāminandō, contāminandumsupinecontāminātum, contāminātū

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

vitiis, sceleribus inquinatum, contaminatum, obrutum esse: to be vicious, criminal.
vitiis, sceleribus contaminari or se contaminare (Off. 3. 8. 37): to be tainted with vice.

con-tāmĭno, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. from stem tag, tango.

I. Orig., to bring into contact, touch.

A. In gen. (very rare): manus quibus contaminatur, Tert. Apol. 17; cf.: contaminare, contingere, Gloss. ap. Mai, Auct. Class. VI. p. 518 a.—

B. To bring into union, to mingle, blend together, unite. So twice in Ter. of the blending of parts of different comedies into one whole: multas Graecas fabulas, Ter. Heaut. prol. 17; id. And. prol. 16; cf. upon this Grauert, Analekten. p. 116 sq.—

II. To deteriorate by mingling, corrupt, contaminate, defile, stain, pollute (something by something; very freq., esp. in the trop. signif., and in Cic.; not in Quint.).

A. Lit.: deam Syriam urinā, Suet. Ner. 56: lacus (connected with spurcare aquas), Dig. 47, 11, 1: spiritum, Cic. Pis. 9, 20.—Of unnatural vice: ingenuos, Petr. 108, 3.—

B. Trop.: gaudium aegritudine aliquā, to mar, efface, Ter. Eun. 3, 5, 4: se humanis vitiis (joined with se inquinare domesticis vitiis atque flagitiis), Cic. Tusc. 1, 30, 72: sanguinem suum lege (Canuleia), Liv. 4, 1, 2: gentes, i. e. by adoption into a plebeian family, Cic. Dom. 13, 35: ordines neglegentiā, Suet. Vesp. 9: veritatem aliquo mendacio, Cic. Sull. 16, 45: mentem omni scelere, Liv. 40, 13, 4; cf.: aliquem scelere, Tac. A. 1, 35; and: se sanguine, Cic. Cat. 1, 12, 29: sese maleficio, id. Rosc. Am. 40, 116: se ipsos ac domos suas nefanda praeda, Liv. 29, 18, 8 al.—In part. perf.: contaminati facinore, Caes. B. G. 7, 43; so, tot parricidiis, Cic. Phil. 12, 7, 15: multis flagitiis, id. Clu. 35, 97: omnibus probris, Suet. Aug. 65; id. Vit. 4: judicia vitio paucorum (joined with corrupta), Cic. Div. in Caecil. 21, 70: verbum assiduo usu, Gell. 2, 6, 25.—Hence, contāmĭnā-tus, a, um, P. a., stained with guilt, polluted, contaminated, impure, vile, defiled: se ut consceleratos contaminatosque ab ludis abactos esse, Liv. 2, 37, 9; cf.: pars civitatis, velut contaminata, id. 4, 4, 6: superstitio, Cic. Clu. 68, 194 al.—So several times of incontinence, * Hor. C. 1, 37, 9: flos aetatis, Suet. Caes. 49: paene omnibus membris, id. Ner. 29.—Sup.: homo sceleribus flagitiisque contaminatissimus, Cic. Prov. Cons. 6, 14; id. Dom. 9, 23.—Subst.

1. contāmĭnāti, ōrum, m., abandoned youths, Tac. A. 15, 37.—

2. contāmĭ-nāta, ōrum, n., adulterated things: ut anteponantur ... integra contaminatis, Cic. Top. 18, 69.—Comp. and adv. not in use.

Origins

From con- + *tāmen + -ō; probably for *tagmen, derived from the root of tangō (Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to touch, grasp”)).

Descendants

Catalancontaminar
Englishcontaminate
Frenchcontaminer
Italiancontaminare
Portuguesecontaminar
Romaniancontamina
Spanishcontaminar
Galiciancontaminar

In English words that came into English from contāminō

contaminationcontāminātiō
contaminatecontāminātus
incontaminateincontaminatus