English → Latin
“corrupt” in Latin
corrumpōto pervert, corrupt, deprave or infect; to gain to oneself by gifts, etc.; bribe; to spoil or rotdēprāvōto pervert, distort or disfigure; to seduce, corrupt or depravevitiōto vitiate, make faulty, spoil, taint, corrupt, damage; to violate sexually; to falsify, corrupt (tamper with)adulterōto commit adultery (with); to falsify, counterfeit, adulterate; to pollute, corrupt, defileīnfuscōto darken or obscure; to sully, stain or tarnishmercēspay, wages, reward; revenue, income; chastisement, punishment, penaltypretiumworth, price, value, cost; pay, hire, wage; rewardlargītiōgranting, bestowing, dispensing, distributing, imparting; largess; briberyauraair; breezeputrēscōto putrefy, rot
The English word corrupt itself goes back to Latin rumpō, through corruptus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
corrupt
TRANS., corrumpere (PROP. to break to pieces; hence, to make anything utterly bad and unserviceable; also of internal and moral corruption. Also of falsifying writings, documents, etc.): depravare (from pravus, to pervert from its right use, direction, etc.: hence, to make anything relatively bad; also of moral corruption; depravare mores; aliquem). (the words are found in this connection and order), corrumpere ac depravare: vitiare (to destroy the purity or genuineness of anything; e.g., auras; also to falsify writings). (the words are found in this connection and order), vitiare et corrumpere: adulterare (e.g., judicium veri, jus pecunia): infuscare (PROP. to make anything dark-coloured, destroy its transparency; hence, figuratively to make anything impure by some addition; e.g., saporem vini). To corrupt a word (by bad pronunciation), nomen, verbum, etc., corrumpere (Sall.). To corrupt a person, aliquem depravare, or corrumpere; alicujus mores depravare or corrumpere; alicujus animum corrumpere; vitiis suis inficere aliquem; vitia sua alicui allinere, affricare (of one who corrupts by his own bad example, Sen.): aliquem ad nequitiam adducere (Terentianus): to corrupt by indulgence, indulgentia depravare.
Make dishonest by bribery, corrumpere, with or without pecunia, mercede, pretio, largitione, etc.: pretio mercari aliquem; largitione alicujus voluntatem redimere (to buy him): donis aliquem ad suam causam perducere (win his support by gifts): largitione alicujus mentem caecare (blind his eyes by a gift). To try to corrupt anybody, aliquem pecunia sollicitare or oppugnare; alicujus animum donis tentare; alicujus corruptelam moliri: to be or allow one’s self to be corrupted, largitionibus moveri; pecuniam accipere (e.g., ob dicendum falsum testimonium); pecuniam accipere ac pretio fidem habere addictam; fidem pecunia mutare by anybody, pecuniam accipere a aliquo; se vendere alicui: not to allow one’s self to be corrupted, largitioni resistere; adversum dona invictum animum gerere (habitually, Sall., Jug., 43, extr.): One who corrupts [Vid: CORRUPTER]. To corrupt the judge (in a cause), judicium corrumpere; jus pecunia adulterare. One who can not be corrupted, incorruptus, integer (opposed to venalis pretio).
corrupt
INTR., putrescere; putrefieri: corrumpi; depravari; vitiari [SYN. in CORRUPT, TRANS.] : pessum ire (to be ruined, destroyed): the corn corrupts, frumentum corrumpitur.
corrupt
In a moral sense, impurus (impure): incestus (unchaste): inquinatus (polluted): perditus (lost without hope): profligatus (profligate): turpis (vile). (The words are found in this connection and order), perditus profligatusque. Corrupt manners, mores corrupti depravatique; mores turpes; mores perditi. [Vid: also, VICIOUS.]
Bribed, venalis pretio: gratia depravatus (by personal or party feeling). [Vid: To CORRUPT = bribe.] A corrupt judge, nummarius judex.
Spoiled, corruptus; vitiatus: depravatus: [SYN. in To CORRUPT.]
In a state of decomposition, putrefactus: putridus. Corrupt blood, insincerus cruor (Verg.).
Falsified, adulterinus; subditus; vitiatus. A corrupt passage, *locus librarii manu depravatus. To restore corrupt passages, *depravatis locis (veterum scriptorum) mederi (Ruhnken). Vid: FALSE.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for corrupt?
- The usual Latin words for “corrupt” are corrumpō, dēprāvō, vitiō; also adulterō, īnfuscō, mercēs. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.