different between refine vs contaminate

English

Etymology

re- +? fine

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???fa?n/
• Rhymes: -a?n
• Hyphenation: re?fine

Verb

refine (third-person singular simple present refines, present participle refining, simple past and past participle refined)

1. (transitive) To purify; reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; to free from impurities.

2. (intransitive) To become pure; to be cleared of impure matter.
3. (transitive) To purify of coarseness, vulgarity, inelegance, etc.; to polish.

4. (transitive, intransitive) To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.
5. (transitive) To make nice or subtle.

Related terms

• refinable
• refinement
• refiner
• refinery

Translations

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• Feiner, enfire, ferine, fineer

Portuguese

Verb

refine

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

Spanish

Verb

refine

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

English

Etymology

From Old French contaminer, from Latin contaminare (“to touch together, blend, mingle, corrupt, defile”), from contamen (“contact, defilement, contagion”), related to tangere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?tæm?ne?t/

Verb

contaminate (third-person singular simple present contaminates, present participle contaminating, simple past and past participle contaminated)

1. (transitive) To make something dangerous or toxic by introducing impurities or foreign matter.

2. (transitive) To soil, stain, corrupt, or infect by contact or association.
   • I would neither have simplicity imposed upon, nor virtue contaminated.
3. (transitive) To make unfit for use by the introduction of unwholesome or undesirable elements.

4. To infect, often with bad objects

Related terms

• contaminable
• contamination
• contaminative

Translations

Further reading

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

Italian

Verb

contaminate

1. second-person plural present of contaminare
2. second-person plural imperative of contaminare
3. feminine plural past participle of contaminare

Latin

Verb

cont?min?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of cont?min?