corrupt
UK[kəˈrʌpt]US[kəˈrʌpt]
adj
willing to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain
adj
(of a text or computer data) made unreliable by errors or alterations
v
cause to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain
v
cause errors to appear in (a computer file or database)
Morpheme Breakdown
cor
rupt
cor
intensive
rupt
break
Etymology
the word 'corrupt' originates from the latin verb 'corrumpere', which is a composite of the intensive prefix 'com-' (here assimilated to 'cor-') and the verb 'rumpere', meaning 'to break'. the literal sense was 'to break thoroughly, to destroy, to spoil'. this concept of physical breaking or dissolution evolved metaphorically in latin to signify moral decay, bribery, and perversion. entering english via old french in the 14th century, it retained these dual notions of both moral/ethical disintegration and the introduction of errors that spoil purity or integrity.
Analysis
Structure: cor (intensive) + rupt (break)
cor- (variant of 'com-'), from latin, meaning 'with, together, thoroughly'; serves as an intensive prefix. rupt, from latin 'rumpere', meaning 'to break'.
Examples
the investigation revealed a network of corrupt officials.
a power failure can corrupt the data on a hard drive.
he was accused of trying to corrupt a witness.