corrupt

English

Alternative forms

corrumpt (archaic)
corrump (obsolete)
corroupt (rare)

Etymology

From Middle English corrupten, derived from Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpō, corrumpere (“to destroy, ruin, injure, spoil, corrupt, bribe”), from com- (“together”) + rumpere (“to break in pieces”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kəˈɹʌpt/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ʌpt

Adjective

corrupt (comparative more corrupt, superlative most corrupt)

Willing to act dishonestly for personal gain; accepting bribes.
In a depraved state; debased; perverted; morally degenerate; weak in morals.
The government here is corrupt, so we'll emigrate to escape them.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Genesis 6:11:
  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
- 1613, William Shakespeare; [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i]:
  At what ease
  Might corrupt minds procure knaves as corrupt
  To swear against you.
Abounding in errors; not genuine or correct; in an invalid state.
The text of the manuscript is corrupt.
It turned out that the program was corrupt - that's why it wouldn't open.
In a putrid state; spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound.
- 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, OCLC 837543169:
  with such corrupt and pestilent bread to feed them.

Synonyms

corrupted

Collocations

with nouns

corrupt practice
corrupt state
corrupt country
corrupt nation
corrupt regime
corrupt city
corrupt government
corrupt person
corrupt man
corrupt politician
corrupt mayor
corrupt judge
corrupt member
corrupt minister
corrupt file
corrupt database
corrupt document
corrupt woman

Translations

in a depraved state

Arabic: مُرْتَشٍ‎ (murtašin), فَاسِد‎ (fāsid)
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Belarusian: карумпава́ны (karumpavány), карумпі́раваны (karumpíravany), прада́жны (pradážny)
Bulgarian: покваре́н (bg) (pokvarén), корумпи́ран (bg) (korumpíran)
Catalan: corrupte (ca)
Czech: zkažený (cs), zkorumpovaný (cs)
Danish: korrupt
Dutch: corrupt (nl), verdorven (nl)
Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: turmeltunut (fi), korruptoitunut
French: corrompu (fr), dévoyé (fr)
Galician: corrupto
German: korrupt (de)
Greek: διεφθαρμένος (el) (dieftharménos)
Hebrew: מושחת‎ (mushkhat)
Hindi: बेईमान (hi) (beīmān), भ्रष्ट (hi) (bhraṣṭ)
Hungarian: korrupt (hu)
Italian: corrotto (it) m
Khmer: ពុករលួយ (puk rɔluəy)
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Latin: corruptus
Norwegian:
Bokmål: korrupt
Nynorsk: korrupt
Polish: skorumpowany m
Portuguese: corrupto (pt)
Romanian: corupt (ro)
Russian: коррумпи́рованный (ru) (korrumpírovannyj), прода́жный (ru) (prodážnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: olc, meallta, breun
Spanish: corrupto (es)
Swedish: korrupt (sv)
Tagalog: tiwali, korap, kurakot (informal)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: yoz (tr), yozlaşmış, bozulmuş (tr)
Ukrainian: корумпо́ваний (korumpóvanyj), прода́жний (prodážnyj)
Vietnamese: tham nhũng (vi)

with lots of errors in it

Belarusian: сапсава́ны (sapsavány), сапсу́ты (sapsúty)
Bulgarian: развале́н (bg) (razvalén)
Catalan: corrupte (ca)
Czech: porušený
Finnish: korruptoitunut
Maori: hāmate (of a computer)
Polish: zepsuty (pl)
Russian: испо́рченный (ru) (ispórčennyj), повреждённый (ru) (povreždjónnyj)
Spanish: corrupto (es)
Turkish: bozuk (tr), bozulmuş (tr), hatalı (tr)
Ukrainian: зіпсо́ваний (zipsóvanyj)

Verb

corrupt (third-person singular simple present corrupts, present participle corrupting, simple past and past participle corrupted)

(transitive) To make corrupt; to change from good to bad; to draw away from the right path; to deprave; to pervert.
Don't you dare corrupt my son with those disgusting pictures!
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Genesis 6:12:
  And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
(archaic, intransitive) To become putrid, tainted, or otherwise impure; to putrefy; to rot.
- 1631, Francis [Bacon], “8. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], OCLC 1044372886:
  he entrails, which are the parts aptest to corrupt
- 1732, George Smith, Institutiones Chirurgicæ: or, Principles of Surgery, [...] To which is Annexed, a Chirurgical Dispensatory, [...], London: Printed [by William Bowyer] for Henry Lintot, at the Cross-Keys against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet, OCLC 745299684, page 254:
  […] Lanfrank takes Notice of Tract. 3. Doct. 3. cap. 18. ſaying, "I have ſeen many who being full of Humours, have made an Iſſue under the Knee, before due Purgation had been premis'd; whence, by reaſon of the too great Defluxion of Humours, the Legs tumified, ſo that the cauterized Place corrupted, and a Cancer (or rather cacoethic Ulcer) was thereby made, with which great Difficulty was cur'd."
(transitive) To introduce errors; to place into an invalid state.
Unplugging a flash drive without dismounting it first can corrupt the data stored on the drive.
To debase or make impure by alterations or additions; to falsify.
to corrupt language, or a holy text
to corrupt a book
To waste, spoil, or consume; to make worthless.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Matthew 6:19:
  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt.

Translations

to change from good to bad

Arabic: أَفْسَدَ‎ (ʾafsada)
Azerbaijani: pozmaq, korlamaq (colloquial)
Bulgarian: развалям (bg) (razvaljam), развращавам (bg) (razvraštavam)
Catalan: corrompre (ca)
Czech: zkazit, narušit (cs)
Dutch: verderven (nl), verworden (nl)
Esperanto: korupti
Finnish: turmella (fi), korruptoida
French: corrompre (fr)
Galician: corromper (gl), malvar
German: verderben (de), korrumpieren (de)
Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (frawardjan), 𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (riurjan)
Greek: διαφθείρω (el) (diaftheíro)
Ancient: φθείρω (phtheírō)
Hebrew: השחית‎ (he) (hishkhít)
Irish: truailligh, éilligh
Italian: corrompere (it)
Japanese: 堕落させる (だらくさせる, daraku saseru)
Khmer: ពុករលួយ (puk rɔluəy)
Latin: corrumpō, dēprāvō
Maori: whakatautauhea, whakatautauwhea, whakakonuka, kōrapurapu, hāmate (refers to computers)
Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
Occitan: corrompre (oc)
Portuguese: corromper (pt)
Romagnol: adulterêr
Romanian: corupe (ro)
Russian: разлагать (ru) (razlagatʹ), развращать (ru) (razvraščatʹ), портить (ru) (portitʹ)
Spanish: corromper (es)
Swedish: fördärva (sv)
Turkish: bozmak (tr), bozulmak (tr), yozlaşmak (tr), yozlaştırmak (tr)

Related terms

corruptible
corruption
incorruptible

References

corrupt in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
corrupt in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin corruptus or from Middle French corrupt.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kɔˈrʏpt/
Audio (file)
Hyphenation: cor‧rupt
Rhymes: -ʏpt

Adjective

corrupt (comparative corrupter, superlative corruptst)

corrupt (lacking integrity, being prone to discriminating, open to bribes, etc.)
Het bleek lastig om corrupte topambtenaren uit het bestuursapparaat te verwijderen.
It turned out to be hard to remove corrupt high-ranking officials from the civil service.
(textual criticism) corrupt (containing (many) errors)
De tekst is op deze plaats zo corrupt dat iedere reconstructie op zand gegrondvest is.
The text is so corrupt in this passage, that any reconstruction would be built on sand.
deprave, morally corrupt
De Grote Oorlog toonde hem dat de wereldorde corrupt was.
The Great War showed him that the world order was corrupt.

Inflection

Inflection of corrupt
uninflected	corrupt
inflected	corrupte
comparative	corrupter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		corrupt	corrupter	het corruptst het corruptste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	corrupte	corruptere	corruptste
	n. sing.	corrupt	corrupter	corruptste
	plural	corrupte	corruptere	corruptste
definite		corrupte	corruptere	corruptste
partitive		corrupts	corrupters	—

Related terms

corrumperen
corruptie

Descendants

Afrikaans: korrup
→ Indonesian: korup
→ West Frisian: korrupt

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin corruptus.

Adjective

corrupt m (feminine singular corrupte, masculine plural corrupts, feminine plural corruptes)

corrupt (impure; not in its original form)