taint
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taint¹
- /teɪnt/
Rhymes with -eɪnt
Where it comes from
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.
noun taints
-
A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food.
Similar: adulterant, contamination, pollutant, adulterator, contaminant, contaminator, impurity, pollution, sophisticant, taint
- A tinge, trace or touch. There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies, - which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world - what I want to forget.
- A mark of disgrace, especially on one's character; blemish.
- Tincture; hue; colour.
- Infection; corruption; deprivation. A prison taint was on everything there. The imprisoned air, the imprisoned light, the imprisoned damps, the imprisoned men, were all deteriorated by confinement.
- A marker indicating that a variable is unsafe and should be subjected to additional security checks. Using Apache version 1.3.29 and Perl version 5.8.2, we tracked the following sequence of taints […]
verb taints · tainting · tainted
-
To contaminate or corrupt (something) with an external agent, either physically or morally.
His unkindness may defeat my life, / But never taint my love.
Similar: leper
- To spoil (food) by contamination.
- To be infected or corrupted; to be touched by something corrupting. I cannot taint with fear.
- To be affected with incipient putrefaction. Meat soon taints in warm weather.
- To mark (a variable) as unsafe, so that operations involving it are subject to additional security checks.
- To invalidate (a share capital account) by transferring profits into it.
taint²
- /teɪnt/
Rhymes with -eɪnt
Where it comes from
From Middle English taynt, aphetic form of attaynt, atteynt, from Old French atteinte (“a blow, stroke”). Compare with attaint.
noun taints
- A thrust with a lance, which fails of its intended effect. This taint he follow'd with his sword, drawn from a silver sheath, Which lifting high, he struck his helm full where his plume did stand, On which it piecemeal brake, and fell from his unhappy hand.
- 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 taints · tainting · tainted
- To damage, as a lance, without breaking it; also, to break, as a lance, but usually in an unknightly or unscientific manner. Do not fear; I have / A staff to taint, and bravely.
- To thrust ineffectually with a lance.
taint³
- /teɪnt/
Rhymes with -eɪnt
Where it comes from
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.’
noun taints
- The perineum. Sorry you feel that way. But since your mother sucks cocks in hell if I go there I won't be rotting.....I'll be on line right behind you hoping to get another good head job from your Mom or Sister....if you can remember which is which.......(Moms the one with the beard on her taint)
taint⁴
- /teɪnt/
Rhymes with -eɪnt
Where it comes from
Contraction of it + ain't.
contraction
- Alternative spelling of 'taint
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: defile, sully, contamination, corrupt, cloud, infect, contaminate, rot, blemish, smudge, smear, blot, blob, impair, stain, vitiate
Translations
Every language
noun contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food
| Français | contamination, moisissure, souillure |
|---|
verb To contaminate or corrupt something with an external agent, either physically or morally
| Português | contaminar, corromper, infectar, macular |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | verderben |
| Italiano | contaminare, infettare, macchiare |
| Română | spurca, mânji |
Talk about this word "taint." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/taint. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. taint. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/taint "taint." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/taint.Cite this
@misc{taint_2026,
title = {taint},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/taint},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
