interfering with something in order to damage or change it, usually without permission.
From Middle English 'tampre,' possibly related to 'temper' (to mix or moderate). The sense of 'interfering' developed in the 1600s from the idea of meddling with something.
The phrase 'tampering with evidence' became a legal term because Victorian-era courtrooms needed a word for someone secretly interfering with proof—and 'tamper' was perfect because it suggests careless meddling rather than outright destruction.
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