corruption
(kəˈrʌpʃən)
Forms: 4–5 corrupcioun, corupcioun, -cion, 4 corrupcyone, 4–6 -cion, 5–6 -cyon, cione, 5 -tyown, 6 -tione, (corouption), 6– corruption.
[a. F. corruption (12th c.), in OF. also -tiun, -cion, ad. L. corruptiōn-em, n. of action from corrump-ĕre to corrupt. Adopted from theological Latin.]
The action of corrupting; the fact of being corrupted; the condition of being corrupt; corrupt matter; a corrupt example or form; corrupting agency: in the various physical, moral, and transferred applicatons of corrupt.
I. Physical.
† 1. The destruction or spoiling of anything, esp. by disintegration or by decomposition with its attendant unwholesomeness; and loathsomeness; putrefaction. Obs.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 98 Kynde come after with many kene sores, As pokkes and pestilences and moche poeple shente; So kynde þorw corupciouns kulled ful manye. 1382 Wyclif Dan. iii. 92 Loo! I see foure men..walkynge in mydil of the fyre, and no thing of corrupcioun is in hem. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) viii. 31 In þat abbay commes neuer fleess, ne flyes, ne nan oþer swilk vermyn of corrupcioun. 1546 T. Phaer Bk. Childr. (1553) R ij b, The hole body falleth in distemper..it procedeth commonly by corrupcion of the milke. 1626 Bacon Sylva §771 If you provide against the causes of Putrefaction, matter maketh not that haste to corruption, that is conceived. 1718 J. Chamberlayne Relig. Philos. (1730) I. iii. §2 The naked Bone can rarely endure the Air without Corruption. |
| fig. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iv. ii. 71 After my death, I wish no other Herald..To keepe mine Honor, from Corruption, But such an honest Chronicler as Griffith. |
b. spec. Decomposition as a consequence of death; dissolution.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xv. 10 Ne þou sall gif þi haligh to see corupcioun. 1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. xv. 42 The aȝen rysinge of deed men. It is sowun in corupcioun. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10787 His corse..come to corupcioun, as his kynd asked. 1533 Gau Richt Vay (1888) 34 Yair sal be na generacione na corrupcione eftir dwmis day. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 19 If we would keepe a body long, the dissection must be begun at those parts which are most subiect to corruption. 1626 Bacon Sylva §328 Corruption is a Reciprocal to Generation. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 324 Whatever is put in this oil, will keep from corruption..for ages. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 511 When the bodies of the dead were taken up already in a state of corruption. |
† c. Applied to inorganic matter: The breaking up or decomposition of a body, the oxidation or corrosion of metals, etc. Obs.
| 1563 Fulke Meteors (1640) 67 Copper, in colour, comming neerest to Gold..giveth way to corruption, being infected with that greene minerall Copperus. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 133 They are subiect to corruption, and so are all the creatures that are compounded of the elements, whether they haue life or no. 1666 Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual. (1667) 57 Those violent Corruptions of Bodies that are made by Outward Agents, shattering them into pieces. |
† d. In a more general sense: Destruction, dissolution of the constitution which makes a thing what it is. Obs.
| a 1606 Blundeville, Corruption is a proceeding from a being to a not being, as from an oak to chips or ashes. 1710 J. Clarke Rohault's Nat. Phil. (1729) I. 17 When a Thing is destroyed, or ceases to be what it was before, we call it Corrruption; thus we say it is a Corruption of the Wood, when we see the Wood no longer, but only the Fire in the Place of it. 1845 J. H. Newman Ess. Developm. 62 Corruption is a breaking up..or..resolution into its component parts, which involves eventually a loss of unity. |
† 2. Infection, infected condition; also fig. contagion, taint. Obs.
| c 1430 Lydg. in Turner Dom. Archit. III. 39 Whereby the towne was utterly assured From endengerynge of all corupcion, From wycked ayre & from inffexion. 1598 tr. Linschoten's Voy. in Arb. Garner III. 14 Through the change of air and the corruption of the country, I fell sick. |
b. Law. corruption of blood: the effect of an attainder upon a person attainted, by which his blood was held to have become tainted or ‘corrupted’ by his crime, so that he and his descendants lost all rights of rank and title; in consequence of which he could no longer retain possession of land which he held, nor leave it to heirs, nor could his descendants inherit from him.
| 1563 Act 5 Eliz. c. 1 This Act..shall not extend to make any corruption of blood. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry i. viii. (1660) 47 More over that they shall sustain corruption of their blood and family. 1721 Lond. Gaz. No. 5927/11 No Attainder..shall extend to work any Corruption of Blood. 1769 Blackstone Comm. IV. 381 It is to be hoped, that this corruption of blood, with all it's connected consequences, not only of present escheat, but of future incapacities of inheritance even to the twentieth generation, may..be abolished by act of parliament. 1813 Sir S. Romilly in Examiner 22 Feb. 117/2 The next thing to which he objected, was the corruption of blood, which was a very different thing from the usual cases of forfeiture. 1862 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. App. ii. 414 In the United States..an attainder does not work corruption of blood. |
3. concr. Decomposed or putrid matter, esp. in a sore, boil, etc.; pus. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 240 b, With a shell..he scraped y⊇ stynkyng fylth & corrupcyon of her deed body. 1580 Baret Alv. C 1319 Matter, or corruption comming out of a wound or sore, pus. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 324/2 Hooked..Instruments..termed Drawers are to scrape out Corruption in a Wound or Bruize. 1888 Peacock N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., All blud and corruption. |
| fig. 1595 Shakes. John iv. ii. 81 When it breakes, I feare will issue thence The foule corruption of a sweet childes death. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, iii. i. 77 That foule Sinne gathering head, Shall breake into Corruption. 1642 Rogers Naaman 263 True humblenesse..lyes open brested to receive every point of Gods weapon, to let out her corruption. |
II. Moral.
4. A making or becoming morally corrupt; the fact or condition of being corrupt; moral deterioration or decay; depravity.
| c 1340 Cursor M. (Fairf.) 1553 (heading) Þe corrupcioun of þe lande ofter synne. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 10 That is it that preserueth mannes soule from spirituall corrupcyon of synne. 1592 Davies Immort. Soul viii. xxi, As from Adam, all Corruption take. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 107 ¶1 The general Corruption of Manners in Servants is owing to the Conduct of Masters. 1849–50 Alison Hist. Europe I. ii. §50. 168 Have the arts and sciences contributed to the corruption or purification of morals? 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 172 The clergy as a body were paralysed by corruption. 1874 Green Short Hist. viii. 476 The blow at the corruption of the Court which followed was of a far more serious order. |
b. (with a and pl.)
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4953 And clense it of al manere of syn, And of alle corrupcions, bath hegh and law. 1605 Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows i. §16 My progresse so small, and insensible; my corruptions so strong. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 137 The young Man had strong Corruptions to grapple with. 1727 Swift Gulliver Pref. Let., Some corruptions of my Yahoo nature have revived in me. |
c. Corrupting influence or agency.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter Prol. 3 Þe whilk waxis noght soure thurgh þe corupciouns of þis warld. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶825 Right so is a wikked prest corrupcioun ynough for al a parisch. 1813 Byron Br. Abydos ii. xx, How oft the heart Corruption shakes which perils could not part! 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 124 The love of money is the corruption of states. |
5. Evil nature, ‘the old Adam’; anger, ‘temper’. Now colloq. or dial.
| 1799 C. Winter Let. in W. Jay Mem. (1843) 36 His corruptions were roused by the report. 1829 Blackw. Mag. XXV. 545 Fling doon the Stannard—if you dinna, it'll be waur for you, for you've raised my corruption. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. v. xii. (1849) 247 ‘Let alone my goods’..exclaimed I, for my corruption was rising. 1848 A. Brontë Tenant of Wildfell Hall xxxi, I am no angel, and my corruption rises against it. |
6. Perversion or destruction of integrity in the discharge of public duties by bribery or favour; the use or existence of corrupt practices, esp. in a state, public corporation, etc.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vii. viii. 703 Quhat for corruptyown and inwy, Thare charge þai dyd nocht detfully. 1494 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 21 If any of the petit Jury toke..any some of money..after any suche corrupcion by the Graund Jury founden, etc. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent. (1826) 141 Guy..escaped soon after by corruption of his keepers. a 1600 Hooker Eccl. Pol. vii. xxiv. §8 Simoniacal corruption I may not for honours sake suspect. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvi. 144 The frequent corruption and partiality of Judges. 1769 Junius Lett. i. (1804) I. 13 It is not sufficient..that judges are superior to the vileness of pecuniary corruption. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) II. xii. 398 The real vice of this parliament was not intemperance, but corruption. 1880 M{supc}Carthy Own Times IV. lix. 316 The ballot has not extinguished corruption in small boroughs. |
† b. A case or instance of corrupt practice. Obs.
| 1621 H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 14 The corrupcion wherewith the L. Chancellor was charged, viz., twenty-three severall corrupcions proved by wytnesses. |
III. The perversion of anything from an original state of purity.
† 7. Despoiling of virginity, violation of chastity.
| 1340 Ayenb. 227 Maydenhod..to loki al hare lyf hare bodyes yholliche wyþoute enye corrupcion. c 1420 Metr. St. Kath. 120 (Horstm.) Thou schewest here a false reson, Woman withowt corrupcyon Never ȝyt chylde ne bare. |
8. The perversion of an institution, custom, etc. from its primitive purity; an instance of this perversion.
| 1656 J. Harrington Oceana (1700) 38 The Corruption then of Monarchy is call'd Tyranny. 1661 Bramhall Just Vind. ii. 10 They who first separated themselves from the primitive pure Church, and brought in corruptions in faith, practise, Liturgy, etc. 1776 Johnson 5 Apr. in Boswell, Afterwards there were gross corruptions introduced by the clergy, such as indulgences to priests to have concubines. 1867 Smiles Huguenots Eng. iii. (1880) 45 The Huguenots..denounced the corruptions of the Church, and demanded their reform. 1878 Morley Carlyle Crit. Misc. Ser. i. 201 To judge a system in its corruption. |
9. Change of language, a text, word, etc. from its correct or original condition to one of incorrectness, deterioration, etc.
| 1494 Fabyan Chron. ii. xlvii. 31 It was called Caerlud or Luddys towne: and after by corrupcyon, or shortyng of the speche, it was named London. 1599 Thynne Animadv. (1865) 6 Of necessytye, bothe in matter, myter, and meaninge, yt [Chaucer's text] must needes gather corruptione, passinge throughe so manye handes. 1634 Ford P. Warbeck i. iii, Tell me..is it [the writing] a sure intelligence of all The progress of our enemies' intents Without corruption? 1679 Plot Staffordsh. (1686) 417 It was ever after call'd Wulfrunes-Hampton, since by corruption of speech Wolverhampton. 1710 Swift Tatler No. 230 ¶3 The continual Corruption of our English Tongue. 1862 Rawlinson Anc. Mon. I. viii. 215 His numbers having suffered corruption during their passage through so many hands. 1861 Max Müller Sc. Lang. I. ii. (1880) 47 By phonetic corruption..not only the form, but the whole nature of language is destroyed. |
b. A concrete instance of such alteration.
| 1699 Bentley Phal. xi. 228 As for the two other names Aristodolium and Archebolion, the former is a manifest corruption. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 80 ¶9, I am not against reforming the Corruptions of Speech you mention. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 177 ¶9 A copy..by the help of which, the text might be freed from several corruptions. 1856 Stanley Sinai & Pal. (1858) v. 233 Nâblus being the corruption of Neapolis. |
______________________________
▸ Electronics and Computing. The introduction of flaws into software or data, esp. such that it becomes unusable or inaccessible by normal procedures. Also: the process of making a disk, card, etc., unusable by damaging the software or data it contains.
| 1971 Real Time: Infotech State of Art Rep. 499 It is a fundamental requirement of any information processing system to ensure that the data..is maintained at an acceptable level of accuracy, and is protected against corruption. 1984 Computers & Electronics (Nexis) 18 Dec. 67 The corruption of even a single data bit can wreck a file. 1993 Macworld Dec. 64 (advt.) MacTools 3.0..continuously checks for disk corruption in the background, so small problems don't become disasters. 2000 Computing Canada 21 Jan. 14 All power problems can cause data loss or corruption, an expensive hazard for data-dependent businesses such as banks, government agencies, educational institutions and health care providers. |