debauch - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: debauch

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

de·bauch

Audio Help [di-bawch] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object)

1.	to corrupt by sensuality, intemperance, etc.; seduce.

2.	to corrupt or pervert; sully: His honesty was debauched by the prospect of easy money.

3.	Archaic. to lead away, as from allegiance or duty.

–verb (used without object)

4.	to indulge in debauchery.

–noun

5.	a period of wanton or sensual self-indulgence.

6.	an uninhibited spree or party; orgy: a wild debauch.

[Origin: 1585–95; < F débaucher to entice away from duty, debauch, OF desbauchier to disperse, scatter, equiv. to des- dis-¹ + -bauchier, deriv. of bauc, bauch beam (< Gmc; see balcony, balk; cf. F ébaucher to rough-hew); hence, presumably, to hew (beams) > to split, separate > to separate from work or duty

]

—Related forms

de·bauch·er, noun

de·bauch·ment, noun

—Synonyms 1. See debase.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
debauch

To learn more about debauch visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

de·bauch Audio Help   (dĭ-bôch') Pronunciation Key
v.   de·bauched, de·bauch·ing, de·bauch·es

v.   tr.

1. To corrupt morally.
2. To lead away from excellence or virtue.
To reduce the value, quality, or excellence of; debase. See Synonyms at corrupt.
Archaic To cause to forsake allegiance.

v. intr.
To indulge in dissipation.

n.

The act or a period of debauchery.
An orgy.

[French débaucher, from Old French desbauchier, to lead astray, roughhew timber : des-, de- + bauch, beam, of Germanic origin.]

de·bauch'ed·ly (-bô'chĭd-lē) adv., de·bauch'er n.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
debauch

1595, from M.Fr. debaucher "entice from work or duty," from O.Fr. desbaucher "to lead astray," supposedly lit. "to trim (wood) to make a beam" (from bauch "beam," from Frank. balk; from the same Gmc. source that yielded Eng. balk, q.v.). A sense of "shaving" something away, perhaps, but the root is also said to be a word meaning "workshop," which gets toward the notion of "to lure someone off the job;" either way the sense evolution is unclear.

"Debauchee, n. One who has so earnestly pursued pleasure that he has had the misfortune to overtake it." [Ambrose Bierce, "Devil's Dictionary," 1911]

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

debauch
noun
1.	a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity [syn: orgy]
verb
1.	corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality; "debauch the young people with wine and women"; "Socrates was accused of corrupting young men"; "Do school counselors subvert young children?"; "corrupt the morals"

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Debauch

De*bauch"\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Debauched; p. pr. & vb. n. Debauching.] [F. d['e]baucher, prob. originally, to entice away from the workshop; pref. d['e]- (L. dis- or de) + OF. bauche, bauge, hut, cf. F. bauge lair of a wild boar; prob. from G. or Icel., cf. Icel. b[=a]lkr. See Balk, n.] To lead away from purity or excellence; to corrupt in character or principles; to mar; to vitiate; to pollute; to seduce; as, to debauch one's self by intemperance; to debauch a woman; to debauch an army.

Learning not debauched by ambition. --Burke.

A man must have got his conscience thoroughly debauched and hardened before he can arrive to the height of sin. --South.

Her pride debauched her judgment and her eyes. --Cowley.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Debauch

De*bauch"\, n. [Cf. F. d['e]bauche.]

1. Excess in eating or drinking; intemperance; drunkenness; lewdness; debauchery.

The first physicians by debauch were made. --Dryden.

2. An act or occasion of debauchery.

Silenus, from his night's debauch, Fatigued and sick. --Cowley.

Browse Nearby Entries: