deprave
[dih-preyv]
- to make morally bad or evil; vitiate; corrupt.
- Obsolete. to defame.
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Origin of deprave
1325–75; Middle English depraven (< Anglo-French) < Latin dēprāvāre to pervert, corrupt, equivalent to dē- de- + prāv(us) crooked + -āre infinitive suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for depravation
Contemporary Examples
We can admit the intractability of depravation, and still strive for dignity.
Historical Examples
When then, and where did the work of depravation take place?
Shelley was accountable for Harriett Westbrooks depravation.
The Real Shelley, Vol. II (of 2)John Cordy Jeaffreson
It is a voluptuous excess in drink to the depravation of reason.
A Christian Directory (Volume 1 of 4)Richard Baxter
So strange a depravation of manners proceeded from these causes.
If it did suffer, it suffered through the moral nature, because depravation of the heart depraved the brain.
The Expositor's Bible:Alfred Plummer
deprave
- to make morally bad; corrupt; vitiate
- obsolete to defame; slander
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Word Origin
C14: from Latin dēprāvāre to distort, corrupt, from de- + prāvus crooked
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for depravation
deprave
v.
late 14c., "corrupt, lead astray, pervert," from Old French depraver (14c.) or directly from Latin depravare "distort, disfigure;" figuratively "to pervert, seduce, corrupt," from de- "completely" (see de-) + pravus "crooked." Related: Depraved; depraving.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper