contamination

[kuhn-tam-uh-ney-shuhn]

noun

1. the act of contaminating, or of making something impure or unsuitable by contact with something unclean, bad, etc.

2. the act of contaminating, or of rendering something harmful or unusable by the addition of radioactive material.

   the contamination of food following a nuclear attack.

3. the state of being contaminated.

   The manufacturer recalled the product because of possible salmonella contamination.

4. Rare.,  something that contaminates a place or substance, as by making it impure, unsuitable, harmful, or unusable; a contaminant.

5. Linguistics.

   1. an alternation in a linguistic form due to the influence of a related form, as the replacement in English of earlier femelle with female through the influence of male.

   2. the process of forming blends.

contamination

/ kənˌtæmɪˈneɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of contaminating or the state of being contaminated

2. something that contaminates

3. linguistics the process by which one word or phrase is altered because of mistaken associations with another word or phrase; for example, the substitution of irregardless for regardless by association with such words as irrespective

Other Word Forms

• noncontamination noun
• recontamination noun
• self-contamination noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of contamination¹

1375–1425; late Middle English contaminacioun < Late Latin contāminātiōn- (stem of contāminātiō ), equivalent to contāmināt ( us ) ( contaminate ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

But because other parts of the building tested positive for asbestos contamination, Garvins said, the building was temporarily shut down and services were relocated elsewhere.

From Los Angeles Times

"I just want to know what the plans for the future are and has there been any contamination into the land."

From BBC

He also raised concerns about the risk of accidental contamination and a potential false positive.

From BBC

The detention center has also come under heavy scrutiny for its reportedly “inhumane” conditions for the detainees, including food contamination and extreme temperatures.

From Salon

But some lots that did not initially test positive were still distributed, raising concern about contamination.

From Salon

Related Words

• contagion 
• corruption 
• disease 
• epidemic 
• infection 
• poisoning 
• pollution