contamination

English

Etymology

From Latin contāminātiōnem.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kənˌtæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, /kənˌtæm.əˈneɪ.ʃən/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /kənˌtæm.əˈneɪ.ʃən/, [kənˌtɛəm.əˈneɪ.ʃən], [kənˌɾ̃æm.əˈneɪ.ʃən]
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /kənˌtæm.ɪˈnæɪ.ʃən/
  • Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

contamination (countable and uncountable, plural contaminations)

  1. The act or process of contaminating.
    Synonyms: pollution, defilement, taint; see also Thesaurus:contamination
  2. Something which contaminates.
    Synonyms: adulterant, contaminant, impurity, pollutant, sophisticant
  3. (linguistics) A process whereby words with related meanings come to have similar sounds.
  4. (linguistics, etymology) The influence of one form (often from a foreign language) on the historical development of another form to which it may be related in meaning.
  5. (textual criticism) The intermingling of readings from multiple sources by a copyist.

Derived terms

Translations

French

Etymology

From Latin contāminātiōnem.

Pronunciation

Noun

contamination f (plural contaminations)

  1. contamination (act or process of contaminating)

Descendants

  • Turkish: kontaminasyon

Further reading