[f. L. adulterāt- ppl. stem of adulterā-re; it replaces the earlier ADULTER v.]
† 1. intr. To commit or practise adultery (absol. or with any one). Obs. (Repl. by To commit adultery.)
1595. Shaks., John, III. i. 56. Sh’ adulterates hourely with thine Vnckle Iohn.
1615. T. Adams, White Devill, 51. ‘Time’ adulterating with the harlot ‘Fraud,’ begot a brood of ‘Noverints.’
a. 1675. Lightfoot, Misc., 201. Whom, from whom, and with whom we must not kill, steal, nor adulterate.
1698. Vanbrugh, Prov. Wife, III. i. (1730), 153. If I cou’d but catch her adulterating, I might be divorc’d from her.
1860. Th. Martin, Horace, 226. And the turtle-dove adulterate with the falcon and the kite.
† 2. trans. To defile by adultery; to debauch. Obs.
1613. Heywood, Silver Age, II. i. That durst presume to adulterate Juno’s bed.
1649. Milton, Tenure of Kings (1847), 234/1. To murder Uriah and adulterate his Wife.
1657. Trapp, Comm. Esther ii. 12, II. 119. Their bodies were first adulterated and then vitiated.
1678. Marvell, Growth of Pop., Wks. 1875, IV. 257. That … the clergy should, by remaining unmarried, either frustrate human nature if they live chastly, or, if otherwise, adulterate it.
3. Of things: To render spurious or counterfeit; to falsify, corrupt, debase, esp. by the admixture of baser ingredients.
1531. Elyot, Governour (1834), 162. He that … adulterateth his coin, with a more base metal.
1532. More, Confut. Tindale, Wks. 1557, 636/2. The scripture [they] adulterate and viciate with false gloses.
1611. Coryat, Crudities, 266. They adulterate their faces.
1673. Ess. to Revive Educ. Gentlew., 22. Not truly to adorn, but to adulterate their Bodies.
1677. Gale, Crt. Gentiles, I. Introd. 7. The minds of young Students … adulterated and corrupted with false Principes.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 165, ¶ 1. The present war has … adulterated our tongue with strange words.
1785. Reid, Intell. Powers, II. iii. 249. Philosophy has been, in all ages, adulterated by hypotheses.
1822. Imison, Sc. & Art, II. 152. They are apt to adulterate the bread sometimes with alum, and also with chalk.
