n.
a trace of a bad or undesirable quality or substance.
▸a contaminating influence or effect.
v.
- contaminate or pollute.
▸affect with a bad or undesirable quality.
- archaic (of food or water) become contaminated or polluted.
Derivative
- taintless adj. (literary).
Etymology
ME (as a verb in the sense ‘convict, prove guilty’): partly from OFr. teint ‘tinged’, based on L. tingere ‘to dye, tinge’; partly a shortening of attaint.
