taint
/teɪnt/noun, verb, contraction
taint is spelled T-A-I-N-T: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, taint means “A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of taint is taints.
How many letters and syllables are in taint?
| Letters | 5: T-A-I-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 29,649th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is taint?
Taint appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce taint?
- /teɪnt/
Taint has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-taint.ogg, En-au-taint.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with taint?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as taint.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: titan, tinta, nitta.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of taint
- 'tain't
- taints plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tainting participle, present
- tainted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does taint mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food.
- 2
A tinge, trace or touch.
- 3
A mark of disgrace, especially on one's character; blemish.
- 4
obsoleteTincture; hue; colour.
- 5
obsoleteInfection; corruption; deprivation.
- 6
A marker indicating that a variable is unsafe and should be subjected to additional security checks.
Using Apache version 1.3.29 and Perl version 5.8.2, we tracked the following sequence of taints […]
- 7
A thrust with a lance, which fails of its intended effect.
- 8
An injury done to a lance in an encounter, without its being broken; also, a breaking of a lance in an encounter in a dishonorable or unscientific manner.
- 9
USslangvulgarThe perineum.
verb
- 1
To contaminate or corrupt (something) with an external agent, either physically or morally.
- 2
To spoil (food) by contamination.
- 3
To be infected or corrupted; to be touched by something corrupting.
- 4
To be affected with incipient putrefaction.
Meat soon taints in warm weather.
- 5
To mark (a variable) as unsafe, so that operations involving it are subject to additional security checks.
- 6
AustraliaTo invalidate (a share capital account) by transferring profits into it.
- 7
To damage, as a lance, without breaking it; also, to break, as a lance, but usually in an unknightly or unscientific manner.
- 8
To thrust ineffectually with a lance.
contraction
- 1
Alternative spelling of 'taint.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Taint in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | contamination, moisissure, souillure , tache |
| German | verderben |
| Portuguese | contaminar, corromper, infectar, macular |
| Spanish | nies, frontón, sartén, nie |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does taint come from?
From Middle French teint, from Old French teint (past participle of teindre (“to dye, to tinge”)), from Latin tinctum (past participle of tingere); compare tint.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).