To commit adultery or to corrupt something by mixing it with an inferior substance.
From Latin 'adulterare' with the -ize suffix, which forms verbs meaning to cause or make something. The word has both moral and literal meanings related to corruption and contamination.
The Romans used 'adulterare' not just for romantic infidelity but for literally adulterating wine, bread, and metals—the same word captured both moral and physical corruption because they saw them as equivalent betrayals of trust.
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