Vitiate
/ˈvɪʃ.i.eɪt/noun
To impair, weaken, or corrupt something; to make it defective or invalid.
Did you know?Vitiate comes from Latin vitium, meaning a fault or defect, the same root behind vice and vicious, so the word has always carried the energy of something morally or structurally “spoiled.”
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
vitiare
“to spoil, corrupt, or make faulty”
Latin
Latin
vitium
“a fault, defect, blemish, or vice”
14th Century
Middle English
vitiaten
“to impair or make defective”
16th Century
English
vitiate
“to corrupt, weaken, or invalidate”
Modern English
English
vitiate
“to impair the quality, strength, or legal force of something”