English
corruption
Corruption comes from French corruption, from Latin corruptiō, from corrumpō ‘to corrupt’, from rumpō ‘to break’, ultimately from PIE *Hrewp- ‘to break’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrewp-1‘to break’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrunépti1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErumpō1‘to break, burst’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcorrumpō2‘to corrupt, deprave’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcorruptiō3
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcorruption3
- Englishearliest quotation 1627corruption3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin corrumpo
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin corruptio
- 3 Wiktionary, English corruption
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, (please specify the page, or |century=I to X): “The inducing and accelerating of putrefaction is a subject…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrewp-Wiktionary, Latin corrumpo‘to break’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*HrunéptiWiktionary, Latin corrumporeconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErumpōWiktionary, Latin corrumpo‘to break, burst’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcorrumpōWiktionary, Latin corruptio‘to corrupt, deprave’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcorruptiōWiktionary, English corruption
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcorruptionWiktionary, English corruption
- Englishearliest quotation 1627corruptionWiktionary, English corruption. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, (please specify the page, or |century=I to X): “The inducing and accelerating of putrefaction is a subject…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with corruption, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- ‘to break, tear (up)’
through Latin rumpō ‘to break, burst, tear, rend, rupture’
33 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “corruption”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin corrumpo, Latin corruptio. 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 *Hrewp- / corruption