cor·rup·tion /kəˈrʌpʃən/
腐敗,墮落,貪汙
Cor·rup·tion n.
1. The act of corrupting or making putrid, or state of being corrupt or putrid; decomposition or disorganization, in the process of putrefaction; putrefaction; deterioration.
The inducing and accelerating of putrefaction is a subject of very universal inquiry; for corruption is a reciprocal to =\“generation”.\= --Bacon.
2. The product of corruption; putrid matter.
3. The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity; depravity; wickedness; impurity; bribery.
It was necessary, by exposing the gross corruptions of monasteries, . . . to exite popular indignation against them. --Hallam.
They abstained from some of the worst methods of corruption usual to their party in its earlier days. --Bancroft.
Note: ☞ Corruption, when applied to officers, trustees, etc., signifies the inducing a violation of duty by means of pecuniary considerations.
4. The act of changing, or of being changed, for the worse; departure from what is pure, simple, or correct; as, a corruption of style; corruption in language.
Corruption of blood Law, taint or impurity of blood, in consequence of an act of attainder of treason or felony, by which a person is disabled from inheriting any estate or from transmitting it to others.
Corruption of blood can be removed only by act of Parliament. --Blackstone.
Syn: -- Putrescence; putrefaction; defilement; contamination; deprivation; debasement; adulteration; depravity; taint. See Depravity.
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corruption
n 1: lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to
bribery); use of a position of trust for dishonest gain
[syn: corruptness] [ant: incorruptness]
2: in a state of progressive putrefaction [syn: putrescence,
putridness, rottenness]
3: decay of matter (as by rot or oxidation)
4: moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles;
"the luxury and corruption among the upper classes";
"moral degeneracy followed intellectual degeneration";
"its brothels; its opium parlors; its depravity" [syn: degeneracy,
depravity]
5: destroying someone's (or some group's) honesty or loyalty;
undermining moral integrity; "corruption of a minor"; "the
big city's subversion of rural innocence" [syn: subversion]
6: inducement (as of a public official) by improper means (as
bribery) to violate duty (as by commiting a felony); "he
was held on charges of corruption and racketeering"