▪ I. adulterate, ppl. a.
(əˈdʌltərət)
[ad. L. adulterāt-us, pa. pple. of adulterā-re; see adulter v.]
1. Defiled, or stained by adultery, either in origin or conduct; adulterous.
| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. ii. ii. 142, I am possest with an adulterate blot, My bloud is mingled with the crime of lust. 1594 ― Rich. III, iv. iii. 69 Th' adulterate Hastings. 1607 Topsell Four-footed Beasts (1673) 129 And so enjoyed the Adulterate woman for his wife. 1651 W. G. tr. Cowel's Instit. 27 Adulterate Issue. 1755 Smollett Quix. (1803) I. 103 Not..held as a legitimate member, but some adulterate brood. 1857 H. Reed Lect. Brit. Poets viii. 272 The low tastes of a worthless and adulterate generation. |
2. Of things: Spurious, counterfeit; of base origin, or corrupted by base intermixture.
| 1592 Daniel Compl. Rosamond 20 Th' adulterate Beauty of a falsed Cheek, Vile stain to Honour and to Women eke. 1599 Thynne Animadv. (1875) 69 Yt wolde be good that Chaucers proper woorkes were distinguyshed from the adulterat. 1622 Rawleigh's Ghost 237 Many false and adulterate miracles. 1634 Habington in Shaks. Cent. Praise 200 That adult'rate wine Which makes the zeale of Amsterdam divine. 1658 J. R. tr. Mouffet's Theat. Insectes 908 Not of good Honey indeed, but of base, adulterate, impure trash. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 57 Not only slight what they enjoin, But pay it in adulterate Coin. 1681 Hobbes Rhetorick i. xvi. 40 The Judge ought to discern between true and adulterate Justice. a 1703 Pomfret Poet. Wks. (1833) 113 Adulterate Christs already rise, And dare to' assuage the angry skies. 1721 Aubrey Misc. 222 The rest [women] are adulterate in face, but much more in Behaviour. 1724 Swift Drapier Lett. 3 Wks. 1761 III. 57 Let England be satisfied—and keep their adulterate copper at home. ? 1833 H. Coleridge Poems II. 387 Purge the silver ore adulterate. 1867 Swinburne Ess. & Stud. 165 If he has not himself burnt a pinch or two of adulterate incense. |
▪ II. adulterate, v.
(əˈdʌltəreɪt)
[f. L. adulterāt- ppl. stem of adulterā-re; it replaces the earlier adulter v.]
† 1. intr. To commit or practise adultery (absol. or with any one). Obs. (Repl. by To commit adultery.)
| 1595 Shakes. John iii. i. 56 Sh' adulterates hourely with thine Vncle Iohn. 1615 T. Adams White Devill 51 ‘Time’ adulterating with the harlot ‘Fraud,’ begot a brood of ‘Noverints.’ a 1675 Lightfoot Misc. 201 Whom, from whom, and with whom we must not kill, steal, nor adulterate. 1698 Vanbrugh Prov. Wife iii. i. (1730) 153 If I cou'd but catch her adulterating, I might be divorc'd from her. 1860 T. Martin Horace 226 And the turtle-dove adulterate with the falcon and the kite. |
† 2. trans. To defile by adultery; to debauch. Obs.
| 1613 Heywood Silver Age ii. i, That durst presume to adulterate Juno's bed. 1649 Milton Tenure Kings (1847) 234/1 To murder Uriah and adulterate his Wife. 1657 Trapp Comm. Esther ii. 12 II. 119 Their bodies were first adulterated and then vitiated. 1678 Marvell Growth of Pop. Wks. 1875 IV. 257 That..the clergy should, by remaining unmarried, either frustrate human nature if they live chastly, or, if otherwise, adulterate it. |
3. Of things: To render spurious or counterfeit; to falsify, corrupt, debase, esp. by the admixture of baser ingredients.
| 1531 Elyot Governour (1834) 162 He that..adulterateth his coin, with a more base metal. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 1557, 636/2 The scripture [they] adulterate and viciate with false gloses. 1611 Coryat Crudities 266 They adulterate their faces. 1673 Ess. to Revive Educ. Gentlew. 22 Not truly to adorn, but to adulterate their Bodies. 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles i. Introd. 7 The minds of young Students..adulterated and corrupted with false Principes. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 165 ¶1 The present war has..adulterated our tongue with strange words. 1785 Reid Intell. Powers ii. iii. 249 Philosophy has been, in all ages, adulterated by hypotheses. 1822 J. Imison Sc. & Art II. 152 They are apt to adulterate the bread sometimes with alum, and also with chalk. |