Etymograph

English

contaminate

Contaminate comes from Latin contāminātus ‘touched, contacted’, from *tāmen ‘all the same, just the same’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- ‘to touch’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂g-1‘to touch’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*só2‘this’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sei2‘thus, so’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtam3‘so, so much, to such an extent, to such a degree’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*tāmen4‘all the same, just the same’reconstructed
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontāminō1‘to touch together, blend, mingle, corrupt, defile’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontāminātus1‘touched, contacted’perfect passive participle of contāminō
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500contaminat1‘sullied, defiled’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500contaminaten1‘to defile’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1599contaminate1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English contaminate
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin tam
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin tamen
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Latin contamino
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar: “Shall we now Contaminate our figures with base bribes?”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂g-Wiktionary, English contaminate‘to touch’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sóWiktionary, Latin tam‘this’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*seiWiktionary, Latin tam‘thus, so’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtamWiktionary, Latin tamen‘so, so much, to such an extent, to such a degree’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*tāmenWiktionary, Latin contamino‘all the same, just the same’reconstructed
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontāminōWiktionary, English contaminate‘to touch together, blend, mingle, corrupt, defile’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontāminātusWiktionary, English contaminate‘touched, contacted’perfect passive participle of contāminō
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500contaminatWiktionary, English contaminate‘sullied, defiled’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500contaminatenWiktionary, English contaminate‘to defile’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1599contaminateWiktionary, English contaminate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar: “Shall we now Contaminate our figures with base bribes?”

first attested First attested in the early 15ᵗʰ century (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in the early 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English; from Middle English contaminaten (‘to defile; to infect with desease’), from contaminat(e) (“sullied, defiled; infected with desease”, also used as the past participle of contaminaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), from Latin contāminātus, the perfect passive participle of contāminō (‘to touch together, blend, mingle, corrupt, defile’) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), which see for further informations.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- ‘to touch’

taste, integrity, tangible, taxis, tame, contingent, integrate, attain, tactile, tact, tangent, taxonomy, contiguous, talon, contagion, tama, ataxia, talus, thwack, 31 more

through Proto-Indo-European *só ‘this’

then, these, soon, thereabouts, 8 more

through Proto-Italic *sei ‘thus, so’

sic, 3 more

through Latin tam ‘so, so much, to such an extent, to such a degree’

tandem, tanto, 3 more

Today it means

verb To make something dangerous or toxic by introducing impurities or foreign matter.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “contaminate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin tam, Latin tamen, Latin contamino. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- / contaminate

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