con-tāmĭno, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. [from stem tag, tango].
I Orig., to bring into contact, touch .
A In gen. (very rare): manus quibus contaminatur, Tert. Apol. 17; cf.: contaminare, contingere, Gloss. ap. Mai, Auct. Class. VI. p. 518 a.—
B To bring into union, to mingle, blend together, unite . So twice in Ter. of the blending of parts of different comedies into one whole: multas Graecas fabulas, Ter. Heaut. 17; id. And. 16; cf. upon this Grauert, Analekten. p. 116 sq.—
II To deteriorate by mingling, corrupt, contaminate, defile, stain, pollute (something by something; very freq., esp. in the trop. signif., and in Cic.; not in Quint.).
A Lit.: deam Syriam urinā, Suet. Ner. 56: lacus (connected with spurcare aquas), Dig. 47, 11, 1: spiritum, Cic. Pis. 9, 20.—Of unnatural vice: ingenuos, Petr. 108, 3.—
B Trop.: gaudium aegritudine aliquā, to mar, efface , Ter. Eun. 552: se humanis vitiis (joined with se inquinare domesticis vitiis atque flagitiis), Cic. Tusc. 1, 30, 72: sanguinem suum lege (Canuleia), Liv. 4, 1, 2: gentes, i. e. by adoption into a plebeian family, Cic. Dom. 13, 35: ordines neglegentiā, Suet. Vesp. 9: veritatem aliquo mendacio, Cic. Sull. 16, 45: mentem omni scelere, Liv. 40, 13, 4; cf.: aliquem scelere, Tac. A. 1, 35; and: se sanguine, Cic. Cat. 1, 12, 29: sese maleficio, id. Rosc. Am. 40, 116: se ipsos ac domos suas nefanda praeda, Liv. 29, 18, 8 al.—In part. perf. : contaminati facinore, Caes. B. G. 7, 43; so, tot parricidiis, Cic. Phil. 12, 7, 15: multis flagitiis, id. Clu. 35, 97: omnibus probris, Suet. Aug. 65; id. Vit. 4: judicia vitio paucorum (joined with corrupta), Cic. Div. in Caecil. 21, 70: verbum assiduo usu, Gell. 2, 6, 25.
VII —Hence, contāmĭnā-tus , a, um, P. a., stained with guilt, polluted, contaminated, impure, vile, defiled : se ut consceleratos contaminatosque ab ludis abactos esse, Liv. 2, 37, 9; cf.: pars civitatis, velut contaminata, id. 4, 4, 6: superstitio, Cic. Clu. 68, 194 al.—So several times of incontinence, * Hor. C. 1, 37, 9: flos aetatis, Suet. Caes. 49: paene omnibus membris, id. Ner. 29.— Sup. : homo sceleribus flagitiisque contaminatissimus, Cic. Prov. Cons. 6, 14; id. Dom. 9, 23.—Subst.
1 contāmĭnāti , ōrum, m., abandoned youths , Tac. A. 15, 37.—
2 contāmĭ-nāta , ōrum, n., adulterated things : ut anteponantur ... integra contaminatis, Cic. Top. 18, 69.— Comp. and adv. not in use.