I. ˈtānt verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English taynten, from Anglo-French teinter, from Middle French teint, past participle of teindre to color, dye, from Latin tingere — more at tinge
transitive verb
1. obsolete : to touch with color : tinge , tint
2. obsolete : to apply balm or ointment to (a wound or sore spot) : anoint
3.
[influenced in meaning by obsolete taint to attaint, from Middle English taynten, from Middle French ataint, past participle of ataindre to accuse, convict, attain — more at attain ]
a. : to touch or affect slightly with something bad or undesirable
to aid openly would be to … taint his memory — S.H.Adams
directed toward the purge from the public service rolls of those tainted with fascism — Taylor Cole
b. : to affect with putrefaction : make noxious or poisonous : rot
the meat was tainted
c. : to contaminate morally : corrupt , defile , deprave , stain
all the lighter kinds of literature were deeply tainted by the prevailing licentiousness — T.B.Macaulay
intransitive verb
[influenced in meaning by obsolete taint to attaint]
1. obsolete : to become weak : lose courage
I cannot taint with fear — Shakespeare
2. archaic : to become affected with putrefaction or corruption : rot
Synonyms: see contaminate
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French teint, from past participle of teindre
1. obsolete : color , hue , tinge
2.
[influenced in meaning by taint (III) ]
a. : a spot or stain of something bad (as of dishonor or disgrace) : blemish
some ineradicable taint of impropriety attached in their minds to any association with the stage — Mary Austin
the river that I know washes from all taint of sin — Rudyard Kipling
b. : a germ, source, or cause of corruption : a contaminating influence : a rotting or depraving force
remembered his bouts with the bottle and were afraid that the taint had been passed on to me — Hamilton Basso
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French atainte — more at attaint
: attaint 1