To make morally corrupt or wicked; to deprave or debase someone's character.
From Latin depravatus, past participle of depravare (to corrupt), from de- (down) + pravus (crooked, wicked). The term emerged in English in the 16th century to describe the process of moral corruption or degradation.
This word is almost obsolete today, replaced by 'deprave,' but it shows how English once had subtle distinctions between the ongoing process (depravate) and the resulting state—a pattern you still see in pairs like 'demonstrate' and 'demonstration.'
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