▪ I. incorrupt, a. Now rare.
(ɪnkəˈrʌpt)
[ad. L. incorrupt-us, f. in- (in-3) + corruptus corrupt a.]
Not corrupt; free from corruption.
1. Of organic matter: Free from decomposition or putrefaction; not decayed or rotten; not infected by that which causes decay; sound.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 149 Was i-founde..þe body of Pallantes, unroten and incorupt. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 365 Where the bodies of men neither rote neither be beriedde, but lye with-owte incorrupte. 1598 Hakluyt Voy. I. 11 When hee had seene with his eyes, and handled with his hands the incorrupt body of the foresaid King and Martyr, a sudden feare came vpon him. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 56 Sin, that first Distemperd all things, and of incorrupt Corrupted. 1676 Hobbes Iliad xix. 36 And dropt Ambrosia into his nose, To keep his body incorrupt and sweet. |
† b. Incapable of corruption; incorruptible.
| a 1520 Barclay Jugurth A iv, The mynde and soule beynge incorrupt, eternal,..ruleth and weldeth al thynges. |
2. Not debased or perverted; pure, sound.
| 1550 Cranmer Defence 116 b, The first churche of the Apostles..was moste pure and incorrupte. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 151 That he be..brought vp in such a place as is incorrupt, both for the ayre and manners. 1653 Milton Hirelings Wks. (1851) 374 The incorruptest Council of those Waldenses, or first Reformers. |
b. Of the text of books, languages, etc.: Unaffected by error or corruption.
| 1624 Bedell Lett. vi. 99 The quotations..are taken, ad verbum, out of those bookes which are incorrupt. 1676 tr. Guillatiere's Voy. Athens 149 Their Language at Athens is the most pure and incorrupt of all the Cities in Greece. 1873 H. Rogers Orig. Bible vii. (1875) 260 To preserve the text incorrupt. |
3. Morally uncorrupted; pure in life; esp. faithful and upright in the discharge of duty, not to be bribed or led into wrong-doing.
| 1545 Joye Exp. Dan. vii. (R.), The most juste and incorrupt juge. 1669 Milton Free Commw. Wks. (1847) 448/2 Such a king, who..may have no vicious favourite, may hearken only to the wisest and incorruptest of his Parlament. a 1797 H. Walpole Mem. Geo. II, I. 373 We have no succession of incorrupt senators. 1858 Polson Law & L. 92 Dr. Parr has observed, that to say of a judge that he was incorrupt was hardly to eulogize him. |
▪ II. incoˈrrupt, v. rare.
[f. prec. adj.]
trans. To render incorrupt; to preserve from corruption.
| [1550 Veron Godly Sayings (1846) 47 He that will live..let hym beleve, let him be incorrupted & quyckened.] 1890 Talmage Fr. Manger to Throne 304 That purity which incorrupts the corruptible. |