different between adulterate vs degrade

English

Etymology

From Latin adulter?tus (“(adjective) adulterated; of mixed descent; (verb) adulterated, corrupted, defiled, polluted; committed adultery with; (figuratively) counterfeited, falsified”) + English -ate (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the specified thing’, and verbs with the sense ‘acting in the specified manner’). Adulter?tus is the perfect passive participle of adulter? (“to adulterate, corrupt, defile, pollute; to commit adultery with; (figuratively) to counterfeit, falsify”) + -?tus (suffix forming adjectives indicating the possession of a thing or a quality, from nouns); adulter? is derived from ad- (prefix intensifying the action of verbs) + alter? (“to alter, change”) (from alter (“the other”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h?el- (“beyond; other”) + *-teros (suffix forming contrastive or oppositional adjectives)) + -? (suffix forming first-conjugation verbs).

Pronunciation

• Adjective:
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??d?lt???t/
• • (General American) IPA^(key): /??d?lt?r?t/, [-?d?l-]
• Verb:
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??d?lt??e?t/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /??d?lt???e?t/, [-?d?l-]
• Hyphenation: adul?ter?ate

Adjective

adulterate (comparative more adulterate, superlative most adulterate) (archaic, literary)

1. Corrupted or made impure by being mixed with something else; adulterated. [common in the 16th and 17th c.]
2. Tending to commit adultery; relating to or being the product of adultery; adulterous. [common in the 16th and 17th c.]

Derived terms

• adulterateness

Translations

Verb

adulterate (third-person singular simple present adulterates, present participle adulterating, simple past and past participle adulterated)

1. (transitive) To corrupt, to debase (someone or something).
2. (transitive) To make less valuable or spoil (something) by adding impurities or other substances.

   Synonyms: (obsolete) adulter, debase
3. (transitive, archaic) To commit adultery with (someone).

   Synonym: (obsolete) adulter

4. (transitive, archaic) To defile (someone) by adultery.
5. (intransitive, also figuratively, archaic) To commit adultery.

Conjugation

Related terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• adulterant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “adulterate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Italian

Verb

adulterate

1. second-person plural present indicative of adulterare
2. second-person plural imperative of adulterare
3. feminine plural of adulterato

Latin

Verb

adulter?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of adulter?

English

Etymology

From Middle French dégrader

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d????e?d/, /di???e?d/

Rhymes: -e?d

Verb

degrade (third-person singular simple present degrades, present participle degrading, simple past and past participle degraded)

1. (transitive) To lower in value or social position.
   • 1859-1890, John G. Palfrey, History of New England to the Revolutionary War

     Prynne was sentenced by the Star Chamber Court to be degraded from the bar.

2. (intransitive, ergative) To reduce in quality or purity.

3. (transitive, geology) To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down.

Derived terms

• degradation

Translations

Portuguese

Verb

degrade

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of degradar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of degradar
3. third-person singular imperative of degradar

Spanish

Verb

degrade

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of degradar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of degradar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of degradar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of degradar.