corrupter, -or
(kəˈrʌptə(r))
Also 6 -ar, -our.
[f. corrupt v. + -er1; also spelt -or, like the L. agent-n. from corrumpĕre, and in 16th c. with Anglo-Fr. ending -our = mod.F. corrupteur.]
One who or that which corrupts: in various senses.
| 1538 Starkey England ii. i. 150 Lyve alway as commyn corruptarys of chastyte. 1546 Bale Eng. Votaries i. (R.), Her corruptour being biheaded. 1581 Mulcaster Positions iv. (1887) 20 To much moisture, the corrupter of such carcasses. 1656 Prynne Demurrer 22 They were corrupters and counterfeiters of the Kings mony. 1675 Traherne Chr. Ethics xv. 221 The artifices of corruptors. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 65 ¶5 The great Corrupter of our Manners and Morality. 1791–1823 D'Israeli Cur. Lit., New Words, III. 26 There are three foul corruptors of a language: caprice, affectation, and ignorance. 1880 E. White Cert. Relig. 62 The apostles do not hesitate to attribute the worst motives to corrupters of the truth. |
b. One guilty of bribery or ‘corrupt practices’.
| 1810 Bentham Packing (1821) 47 Corruptors, regular or casual. 1863 H. Cox Instit. i. viii. 116 Bribery is not only an offence in the corruptor, but also in the person receiving the bribe. 1886 Spectator 6 Mar. 313/2 The vote might be reckoned as given for the corrupter. |