different between defile vs vitiate

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??fa?l/
• Rhymes: -a?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English defilen (“to make dirty”), alteration (due to Middle English defoulen, defoilen (“to trample, abuse”)) of Middle English befilen (“to befoul, to defile, to make foul”), from Old English bef?lan (“to befoul, defile”), from Proto-Germanic *bi- + *f?lijan? (“to defile, make filthy”). Equivalent to de- +? file. Cognate with Dutch bevuilen (“to defile, soil”). More at de-, file, be-, and foul.

Verb

defile (third-person singular simple present defiles, present participle defiling, simple past and past participle defiled)

1. (transitive) To make unclean, dirty, or impure; soil; befoul.
2. (transitive) To vandalize or add inappropriate contents to something considered sacred or special; desecrate

3. (transitive) To deprive or ruin someone's (sexual) purity or chastity, often not consensually; stain; tarnish; mar; rape

Synonyms

• (make unclean): contaminate, pollute, spoil, sully; see also Thesaurus:dirty
• (vandalize something considered sacred): desecrate, profane; see also Thesaurus:desecrate
• (violate chastity of): ravish, violate, vitiate

Antonyms

• (make unclean): clean, purify; see also Thesaurus:make clean
• (vandalize something considered sacred): sanctify; see also Thesaurus:consecrate

Related terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Earlier defilee, from French défilé, from défiler (“to march past”), from file (“file”).

Noun

defile (plural defiles)

1. A narrow way or passage, e.g. between mountains.
   • 1958, Plutarch, Ian Scott-Kilvert (translator), "Life of Nicias" in Lives: The Fall of the Roman Republic

     The next morning the enemy were on the march before him, seized the defiles, blocked the fords of the rivers, destroyed the bridges, and sent out cavalry to patrol the open ground, so as to oppose the Athenians at every step as they retreated.

2. A single file, such as of soldiers.
3. The act of defilading a fortress, or of raising the exterior works in order to protect the interior.

Translations

See also

• glen

Verb

defile (third-person singular simple present defiles, present participle defiling, simple past and past participle defiled)

1. (archaic, intransitive) To march in a single file; to file.
   • 1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, Random House, p.138:

     They defiled down a gully to the water and bunched and jerked their noses at it and came back.

Translations

Anagrams

• e-filed

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From French défilé.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /def?le?/
• Hyphenation: de?fi?le

Noun

defìl? m (Cyrillic spelling ???????)

1. march-past

Declension

References

• “defile” in Hrvatski jezi?ni portal

English

Alternative forms

• viciate

Etymology

From viti?tus, the perfect passive participle of Latin viti? (“damage, spoil”), from vitium (“vice”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, General American) IPA^(key): /?v??.i.e?t/
• (US)

Verb

vitiate (third-person singular simple present vitiates, present participle vitiating, simple past and past participle vitiated)

1. (transitive) to spoil, make faulty; to reduce the value, quality, or effectiveness of something
   • 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson, "An Address delivered before the Senior Class in Divinity College, Cambridge, Sunday evening, 15 July, 1838":

     The least admixture of a lie, -- for example, the taint of vanity, the least attempt to make a good impression, a favorable appearance, -- will instantly vitiate the effect.

   • 2007, David Roodman, "A Short Note on the Theme of Too Many Instruments", Center for Global Development Working Paper 125 (August 2007), p. 9

     Unfortunately, as Anderson and Sørenson (1996) and Bowsher (2002) document, instrument proliferation can vitiate the test.

2. (transitive) to debase or morally corrupt
3. (transitive, archaic) to violate, to rape
4. (transitive) to make something ineffective, to invalidate

Related terms

• See vice

Translations

References

Further reading

• vitiate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• vitiate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• vitiate at OneLook Dictionary Search

Latin

Verb

viti?te

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