defile

English

/dɪˈfaɪl/

verb
Definitions
  • (transitive) To make unclean, dirty, or impure; soil; befoul.
  • (transitive) To vandalize or add inappropriate contents to something considered sacred or special; desecrate
  • (transitive) To deprive or ruin someone's (sexual) purity or chastity, often not consensually; stain; tarnish; mar; rape

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English defilen (make dirty), befilen (defile, befoul, make foul) derived from Old English befȳlan (befoul, defile, make dirty) derived from Proto-Germanic *bi- (be-, by, at, by-) prefix from English file (computer file, an aggregation of data, cutting and smoothing tool) root from Proto-Indo-European *puH- (rotten, foul, rot, stink, pus).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*puH-

Gloss

rotten, foul, rot, stink, pus

Concept
Semantic Field

Food and drink

Ontological Category

Property

Emoji
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Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms