Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Taint

Taint (tānt), n. [Cf. F. atteinte a blow, bit, stroke. See Attaint.] 1. A thrust with a lance, which fails of its intended effect. [Obs.]

This taint he followed with his sword drawn from a silver sheath. Chapman.

2. An injury done to a lance in an encounter, without its being broken; also, a breaking of a lance in an encounter in a dishonorable or unscientific manner. [Obs.]

Taint, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Tainted; p. pr. & vb. n. Tainting.] To thrust ineffectually with a lance. [Obs.]

Taint, v. t. 1. To injure, as a lance, without breaking it; also, to break, as a lance, but usually in an unknightly or unscientific manner. [Obs.]

Do not fear; I have A staff to taint, and bravely. Massinger.

2. To hit or touch lightly, in tilting. [Obs.]

They tainted each other on the helms and passed by. Ld. Berners.

Taint, v. t. [F. teint, p. p. of teindre to dye, tinge, fr. L. tingere, tinctum. See Tinge, and cf. Tint.] 1. To imbue or impregnate with something extraneous, especially with something odious, noxious, or poisonous; hence, to corrupt; to infect; to poison; as, putrid substance taint the air.

2. Fig.: To stain; to sully; to tarnish.

His unkindness may defeat my life, But never taint my love. Shak.

Syn. — To contaminate; defile; pollute; corrupt; infect; disease; vitiate; poison.

Taint (tānt), v. i. 1. To be infected or corrupted; to be touched with something corrupting.

I can not taint with fear. Shak.

2. To be affected with incipient putrefaction; as, meat soon taints in warm weather.

Taint, n. 1. Tincture; hue; color; tinge. [Obs.]

2. Infection; corruption; deprivation.

He had inherited from his parents a scrofulous taint, which it was beyond the power of medicine to remove. Macaulay.

3. A blemish on reputation; stain; spot; disgrace.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.