# taint
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /teɪnt/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪnt

### Etymology 1

From Middle French teint, from Old French teint (past participle of teindre (“to dye, to tinge”)), from Latin tinctum (past participle of tingere); compare tint.

#### Noun

taint (plural taints)
* A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food.
* A tinge, trace or touch.
** 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 216:There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies, - which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world - what I want to forget.
* A mark of disgrace, especially on one's character; blemish.
* (obsolete) Tincture; hue; colour.
* (obsolete) Infection; corruption; deprivation.
** 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC:A prison taint was on everything there. The imprisoned air, the imprisoned light, the imprisoned damps, the imprisoned men, were all deteriorated by confinement.
** 1856 December, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:He had inherited from his ancestors a scrofulous taint, which it was beyond the power of medicine to remove.
* (programming) A marker indicating that a variable is unsafe and should be subjected to additional security checks.
** 2006, Jim Chow, Stanford University. Computer Science Dept, Understanding data lifetime (page 33)
    Using Apache version 1.3.29 and Perl version 5.8.2, we tracked the following sequence of taints […]

##### Derived terms

* boar taint
* cork taint

##### Translations
#### Verb

taint (third-person singular simple present taints, present participle tainting, simple past and past participle tainted)
* (transitive) To contaminate or corrupt (something) with an external agent, either physically or morally.
** c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:His unkindness may defeat my life, / But never taint my love.
* (transitive) To spoil (food) by contamination.
* (intransitive) To be infected or corrupted; to be touched by something corrupting.
** c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:I cannot taint with fear.
* (intransitive) To be affected with incipient putrefaction.
    Meat soon taints in warm weather.
* (transitive, computing, programming) To mark (a variable) as unsafe, so that operations involving it are subject to additional security checks.
* (transitive, Australia, finance) To invalidate (a share capital account) by transferring profits into it.

##### Synonyms

* (to contaminate): leper (rare)

##### Related terms

* tainture

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From Middle English taynt, aphetic form of attaynt, atteynt, from Old French atteinte (“a blow, stroke”). Compare with attaint.

#### Noun

taint (plural taints)
* A thrust with a lance, which fails of its intended effect.
** 1857, Homerus, translated by George Chapman, The Iliads: Never Before in Any Language Truly Translated, page 74:This taint he follow'd with his sword, drawn from a silver sheath, Which lifting high, he struck his helm full where his plume did stand, On which it piecemeal brake, and fell from his unhappy hand.
* An injury done to a lance in an encounter, without its being broken; also, a breaking of a lance in an encounter in a dishonorable or unscientific manner.

##### Translations
#### Verb

taint (third-person singular simple present taints, present participle tainting, simple past and past participle tainted)
* (transitive) To damage, as a lance, without breaking it; also, to break, as a lance, but usually in an unknightly or unscientific manner.
** 1624 November 3 (first performance), Philip Massinger, “The Parliament of Love”, in W[illiam] Gifford, editor, The Plays of Philip Massinger, […], volume II, London: […] G[eorge] and W[illiam] Nicol; […] by W[illiam] Bulmer and Co. […], published 1805, →OCLC, Act IV, scene iii, page 293:Do not fear; I have / A staff to taint, and bravely.
* (intransitive) To thrust ineffectually with a lance.

### Etymology 3

Reportedly from the phrase “'tain't your balls and 'tain't your ass”. Ascribed to E.E. Landy's Underground Dict. (1972) is the following explanation: ‘'taint their ass and 'taint their pussy.’

#### Noun

taint (plural taints)
* (US, vulgar, slang) The perineum.
** 2000 June 17, Marc Newman, “Re: Americas are overated”, in talk.politics.guns‎ (Usenet):Sorry you feel that way. But since your mother sucks cocks in hell if I go there I won't be rotting.....I'll be on line right behind you hoping to get another good head job from your Mom or Sister....if you can remember which is which.......(Moms the one with the beard on her taint)
** 2005 July 14, Noodles Jefferson, “Re: My Wife's Raw Comments”, in rec.sport.pro-wrestling‎ (Usenet):Even her taint's raw?
** 2010 February 22, Duchamanos, “Re: Huck Finn 2010-anyone going?”, in rec.sport.disc‎ (Usenet):Did you know that guy has absolutely no tan lines? He'll show his taint to prove it!
** 2017, John Oliver, Last Week Tonight, HBO:Thats right, Alex Jones is trying to sell you sloppy wet rags for your tait [sic]. And-- and when you are done wiping down the area between your genitals and anus with a glorified wet nap... And look-- look, this tactical taint wipe has demonstrated incredible results, hasn't it, Doctor?

##### Translations
### Etymology 4

Contraction of it ain't.

#### Contraction

taint
* Alternative spelling of 'taint

### References

* ↑ https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199829941.001.0001/acref-9780199829941-e-46459
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “taint”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* “taint”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

### Anagrams

* Nitta, Tanit, Titan, nitta, tinta, titan