▪ I. taint, n.
(teɪnt)
Forms: 4–6 taynte, 5 teynt, 5–7 taynt, 6 tainte, teinte, 7 tainct, 6– taint.
[Here, as in taint v.1, two words of distinct origin, being identical in form, appear to have run together in the formation of later senses. The original words are placed under A and B, the blended senses under C.]
A. [Aphetic form of attaint n.]
† 1. a. A ‘hit’ in tilting; = attaint n. 1. Also fig.
| c 1400 Melayne 1387 Bot me sall neuer be-tyde that taynte. 1494 in Letters of Rich. III & Hen. VII (Rolls) I. 397 Sir Edward A Borough..brake a spere well brokyn, the ijde better, with a teynt. 1543 Grafton Contn. Harding 596 He..gaue so many teintes y{supt} euery man maruayled at his wonderfull feetes. Ibid. 599 At euery coursse he brake a speare or gaue a taynt. 1551–2 Edw. VI Lit. Rem. (Roxb.) II. 389 Ther was a match..at tilt. Theis [the earl of Warwick, etc.] wane by 4 taintes. 1602 Segar Hon. Mil. & Civ. iii. xxxviii. 168 At the last meeting the French Taint was so strong, as the Englishman was wel-neere borne downe: and so they departed. c 1611 Chapman Iliad iii. 374 This taint he follow'd with his sword, drawn from a silver sheath. |
† b. transf. A knock, a blow. Obs.
| c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) vii, If grehoundes gyf hym [the fox] mony tayntes and ouersette hym. |
2. A disease in horses; = attaint n. 3.
| 1565 Blundevil Horsemanship iv. cxix. (1580) 55 Of a nether taint... This is a little bladder full of iellie, much like vnto a wind-gall, not apparant to the eie, but to the feeling, growing in the midst of the pasterne, somewhat aboue the frush. It commeth by a straine, or else by some wrench, or by an ouerreach. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 672 His observations are particularly applicable to the curl, still they will apply equally well to the taint. |
† 3. A conviction; spec. the conviction of a jury for having given a false verdict; = attaint n. 4.
| 1530 Palsgr. 279/1 Taynte, condamne [n.]. 1607 Cowell Interpr., Taint..signifieth either substantiuely a conviction, or adiectiuely a person convicted of felonie or Treason &c. See Attaint. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. i. 13 Gif the assisors sall happin to be convict as mensworne in the court, be ane Taynt; that is, be probation of twentie foure loyall men. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), A Taint, a Conviction. |
† B. [a. OF. teint, taint (12th c.):—L. tinctu-s (u-stem), and teinte (13th c.):—late and med.L. tincta, n. fem. from tinct-us, pa. pple. of tingĕre to tinge. Cf. the later doublets tinct and tint.] Colour, hue, tint; tinge; dye. Obs.
| 1567 Drant Horace, Epist. ii. ii. H vj, Pearles, stones, iewels, pictures, with costelie kynde of tainte. 1598 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. i. (Arb.) 150 The crimson tainte, which should be laid vpon a Ladies lips, or right in the center of her cheekes. a 1592 Greene Hexametra Alexis in laudem Rosamundæ 6 Face rose-hued, cherry-red, with a silver taint like a lily. c 1593 Earl of Oxford Sheph. Commend. Nimph vii, This pleasant Lilly white, This taint of roseate red. |
C. [Senses app. combining A and B.]
1. a. A stain, a blemish; a sullying spot; a touch, trace, shade, tinge, or tincture of some bad or undesirable quality; a touch of discredit, dishonour, or disgrace; a slur.
| 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 390, I hate ingratitude more in a man, Then..any taint of vice. a 1637 B. Jonson Underwoods xiii, A hallowed temple, free from taint Of ethnicisme. 1643 Chas. I. Proclam. Wks. 1662 II. 350 Free from the foul Taint of High Treason. 1682 Otway Venice Pres. ii. i, They leave a Taint, a Sully where they've past. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), A Taint..a Blur, Spot, or Blemish in one's Reputation. 1742 Fielding Jos. Andrews ii. iv, His temper was..without the least taint of moroseness. 1781 Cowper Expost. 150 Free from every taint but that of vice. 1819 Keats Eve St. Agnes xxv, She knelt so pure a thing, so free from mortal taint. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) II. xx. 211 A slight taint of pedantry. 1851 G. Brimley Ess., Wordsworth 103 There is no taint upon his robe. 1883 Sir J. Bacon in Law Rep. 25 Ch. Div. 316 For good consideration and without taint of suspicion. |
† b. A flaw or blemish in the feathers of hawks from improper feeding; = hunger-traces. Obs.
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans B ij b, The tayntys that be vppon her tayll and her Wengys wiche tayntys com for lacke of fedyng when thay be Eyes. Ibid., A Taynt is a thyng that gooth ouerwarte the federis of the wynges, and of the tayll lyke as and it were eetyn with wormys. |
c. An unpleasant scent or smell. Cf. taint v. C. 4 c.
| 1927 H. Williamson Tarka the Otter i. 5 Mingled with the flower odours..was the taint that had given her a sudden shock..; the taint most dreaded by the otters..—the scent of Deadlock, the great pied hound. 1951 ‘J. Wyndham’ Day of Triffids xi. 205 On the higher ground there was still little taint in the fresh air. |
2. a. A contaminating, corrupting, or depraving influence, physical or moral; a cause or condition of corruption or decay; an infection.
| 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. iii. 28 What followes then?..a generall Taint Of the whole State. 1692 Locke Educ. §68 Keep him from the Taint of your Servants, and meaner People. 1735 Bolingbroke On Parties ii. 15 That epidemical Taint, with which King James infected the Minds of Men, continued upon us. 1828 Macaulay Ess., Hallam (1887) 93 A deep and general taint infected the morals of the most influential classes. 1832 H. Martineau Ireland vi. 93 The health..was affected by the taint the marsh gave to the atmosphere. |
b. A trace or tinge of disease in a latent state.
| 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 16 It is a great signe of a taint, and next yeeres death. 1639 T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 347 If you doe perceive a taint in his winde. 1804 Med. Jrnl. XII. 414 How often does latent venereal taint produce glandular obstructions? 1875 H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 410 Diseases of the bones, dependent upon or resulting from a scrofulous taint. 1879 Spon's Encycl. Manuf. I. 9 It is also essential that there shall be no dry rot or ‘taint’ present [in the wood]. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 116 Both diseases own a common origin, namely, hereditary nervous taint. |
† 3. (Also tant.) Short for taint-worm; also, a small red spider (see quot. 1646). Obs.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 134 b, If he swell of the taint, or stingworme. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. xxvii. 176 There is found in the Summer a kind of spider called a Tainct of a red colour... This by Countrey people is accounted a deadly poison unto Cowes and Horses; who, if they suddenly die, and swell thereon, ascribe their death hereto, and will commonly say, they have licked a Tainct. 1656 in Blount Glossogr. a 1705 Ray Hist. Insects (1710) 41 Araneus exiguus coccineus, vulgo Anglicè a Tant or Taint. |
4. Comb. as taint-free a., free from taint.
| 1663 Flagellum, or O. Cromwell 205 Nor were most of his Relations taint free of those principles. |
▪ II. † taint, ppl. a. Obs. rare.
1. [Aphetic form of attaint ppl. a.] a. Attainted, convicted. b. Affected, seized, struck. c. Exhausted.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 5164 Recreaunt & teynt. Ibid. 10903 Ful of yre, wyþ colour [= choler] teint. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2822 Gyoun þanne was teynt & paal; so longe he hadde yuaste. 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de Worde) ii. xvii. 129/1 He sholde be taken as a conuycte and a taynt [perh. ataynt] traytour. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Taint, Convicted of a Crime, as Treason, Felony, etc. |
2. [Shortened pa. pple. of taint v.] = tainted; infected, corrupt.
| 1620 Quarles Jonah ix. Medit. H ij b, Their seruice is vnsweet, and foully taint. 1743 Lond. & Country Brew. iv. (ed. 2) 330 Such casks..will grow furry, taint, and stinking. |
▪ III. taint, v.1
Forms: 4–6 taynte, 5–6 taynt, 6–7 teint, 5– taint. Pa. pple. tainted; also formerly contr. taint (teint, etc.).
[Here, as in the n., there are two words of distinct origin, A and B, and a series of senses C, in which both appear more or less to blend.]
A. [Aphetic form of attaint v.] I. † 1. trans. To convict, prove guilty; = attaint v. 3. Obs.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxi. (Eugenia) 603, & þu with þis dede is wele taynt, Þat makis na ansuere to þis plant. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxvi. 122 All thefez and robbours þat er taynted þeroff. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8109 Now art þou trewly hor traitour, & tainted for fals. c 1440 York Myst. xxvi. 6 Traytoures tyte will I taynte. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 485 Apollo commanded them, that if they were all tainted with the said murder, they should all depart out of the citie Chios. |
† 2. To prove (a charge); = attaint v. 4. Obs.
| 1424 Sc. Acts Jas. I (1814) II. 6/1 And quhar it beis tayntyt þt þai [rukis] bige and þe birdis be flowin and þe nestis be fundyn in þe treis at beltane, þe treis salbe forfaltit to þe king. |
† 3. To subject to attainder; = attaint v. 6. Obs.
| 1732–8 Neal Hist. Purit. (1822) I. 71 Elizabeth's blood being tainted by act of parliament. |
† 4. To accuse of crime or dishonour; = attaint v. 7. Obs.
| a 1619 Fletcher Bonduca i. i, 'Tis dishonour, And, follow'd, will be impudence, Bonduca, And grow to no belief, to taint these Romans. |
II. † 5. a. To touch, strike, hit; esp. in tilting; = attaint v. i. Obs.
| 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. clxviii. [clxiv.] 470 They ran togider, & tainted eche other on ye helmes, but their speres grated not. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 80, I doe liue, I assure thee, thogh dangers sundrye me taynted. 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. iv. 65 b, The Enemie..tainted fower of them with the Shot of one Harquebouze. 1590 Marlowe 2nd Pt. Tamburl. i. iii, Tilting at a glove, Which, when he tainted with his slender rod, He [etc.]. |
† b. To break (a lance, staff) in tilting, etc. Obs.
| 1599 B. Jonson Every Man out of Hum. ii. i, He can sit a great horse; hee will taint a staffe well at tilt. 1624 Massinger Parl. Love iv. iii, Do not fear. I have A staff to taint, and bravely. |
B. [a. AF. teinter (1409–10), f. teint, pa. pple. of OF. teindre to dye, colour:—L. tingĕre to dye, tinge; cf. attaint, paint.]
† 1. a. trans. To colour, dye, tinge. Obs.
| [1409–10 Act 11 Hen. IV, c. 6 Qe certeins marchantz aliens..achatent..Mill draps de blanket fyne, ou pluis, & les font teintrere [v.r. teinter] de lour grayn demesne en Scarlet ou Sangwyne.] 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. i. vi. in Ashm. Theatr. Chem. Brit. (1652) 130 Able to tayne [? taynt] with colour whych wyll not vade. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxxxviii. 513 With the blode of y⊇ dede sarasyns theyr swordys were all tayntyd red. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 54 At this, the pore swaine tainted his cheeks with a vermillion die. 1725 Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Butter, As to that [Butter] which they taint with Eel-pouts, besides that it deceives the Sight it is very often disagreeable to the Taste. [a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 57 Bid faith and beauty die, and taint Her heart with fraud, her face with paint.] |
† b. To dip, bathe. Obs. rare.
| 1594 Marlowe Dido i. i, And Phoebus, as in Stygian pools, refrains To taint his tresses in the Tyrrhene main. |
† 2. To apply tincture, balm, or ointment to (a wound, etc.). Obs.
| 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 65 If it be ripe it shalbe lawnced, if it be broken it shalbe tainted. 1580 ― Euphues & Eng. (Arb.) 314 Whether dost thou wade Philautus in launcing the wound thou shouldest taint. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 274 If you slit his [a horse's] fore-head, and loosening the skin from the bone, taint it with Turpentine and Sallet-oyl, it will undoubtedly help him. 1639 T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 95 Annoynt, wash, bathe and taint (if need be) the sorance. |
C. [Senses in which A and B appear to blend.]
1. trans. To affect (esp. in a slight degree); to touch, tinge, imbue slightly (usually with some bad or undesirable quality).
| 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. iii. 183 A pure vnspotted heart, Neuer yet taint with loue, I send the King. 1593 ― 3 Hen. VI, iii. i. 40 Nero will be tainted with remorse. 1605 R. Carew in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 99, I am tainted with a sparcke of Envye. 1710 Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. Pref., Those who are tainted with Scepticism. 1761–2 Hume Hist. Eng. lxix. (1806) V. 198 Nowise tainted with enthusiasm. 1850 Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. II. 115 The French or Spanish creoles here would shrink..from inter⁓marriage with one tainted, in the slightest degree, with African blood. 1884 Law Rep. 26 Ch. Div. 124 It does not follow that all the subsequent payments were tainted with the original infirmity. |
† 2. a. To affect injuriously; to cause detriment to; to hurt, injure, impair. Obs.
| 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 13 Sure the man is tainted in's wits. a 1623 Beaumont Ode Blessed Trin. ii, No cold shall thee benumme, Nor darknesse taint thy sight. |
† b. To sully, stain, tarnish (a person's honour).
| 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. i. 56 We come not by the way of Accusation, To taint that honour euery good Tongue blesses. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 183 ¶1 Any Occasion which he thinks may taint his own Honour. 1722 ― Conscious Lovers iv. i, The honour of a Gentleman is liable to be tainted by as small a Matter as the Credit of a Trader. |
† 3. a. To affect with weakness; to cause to lose vigour or courage. Obs.
| 1600 Holland Livy xxviii. xv. 679 [They] being thus tainted, as well in courage of heart, as in bodily strength, gave ground and reculed. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xiii. 449 Fear taints me worthily, Though firm I stand, and show it not. |
† b. intr. To lose vigour or courage; to become weak or faint; to wither, fade. Obs.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. iii. 3 Till Byrnane wood remoue to Dunsinane, I cannot taint with Feare. 1639 Horn & Rob. Gate Lang. Unl. xi. §106 Failing of that moisture it flags, tainteth (withereth), and by and by drieth away. |
4. a. trans. To infect with pernicious, noxious, corrupting or deleterious qualities; to touch with putrefaction; to corrupt, contaminate, deprave.
| 1573 Durham Deposit. (Surtees) 252 The said Bell is a great lyer, and taintyd of his tounge. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iv. 75 Ladies lips..Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues, Because their breath with Sweet meats tainted are. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. ii, Why tainst thou then the ayre with stench of flesh? 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 512 The truth With superstitions and traditions taint. 1770 Junius Lett. xxxviii. (1820) 186 The poison of their doctrines has tainted the natural benevolence of his disposition. 1861 Thackeray Four Georges ii. (1862) 116 One..who tainted a great society by a bad example. |
b. intr. To become putrefied, corrupted, or rotten; to tarnish.
| 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 145 Nay pursue him now, least the deuice take ayre, and taint. 1637 T. Morton New Eng. Canaan (1883) 117 Fish and Flesh both will taint in those partes, notwithstanding the use of Salt. 1641 H. L'Estrange God's Sabbath 26 The putrefaction which Manna contracted by procrastination on other dayes..was the greater miracle..because it tainted against nature. 1766 Museum Rust. III. 239 The natural humidity of the plant..which sometimes..is retained so long as to cause the heads to taint, and become rotten. |
c. trans. To drive out (rabbits) from their burrows by the introduction of an offensive smell.
| 1909 O. Jones Ten Years Game-Keeping ii. 22 Gipsies are a help to the keeper..when he has a difficulty in tainting out a colony of rabbits. 1972 Young's Sporting Appliances (S. Young & Sons Ltd.) ii. 13 Proved to be best after exhaustive tests over many years for tainting out rabbits to lie out for shooting. |
Hence ˈtainting vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1593 Nashe Foure Lett. Confut. Wks. (Grosart) II. 220 Yet tainting is no infamous surgerie for him that hath beene in so many hote skirmishes. 1598 Florio, Macca, a bruse, a spot, a tainting. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. i. iv. 148 If you buy Ladies flesh at a Million a Dram, you cannot preserue it from tainting. 1632 Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 109 These words were very foule and dishonorable: it is a tainting of all honor. 1842 Manning Serm. xi. (1848) I. 156 All the tainting, stupifying power of its original sin. |
▪ IV. taint
obs. variant of tent n.