vitiates

Vitiate is a verb meaning to spoil, reduce the quality or effectiveness of something, or to corrupt morally. In law, logic, and everyday language it can mean to invalidate, nullify, or contaminate a result or process. The third-person singular present tense is vitiates.

Etymology: from Latin vitium “fault, defect,” past participle vitiatus; introduced into English in the early modern period. The term originally related to physical defect and later extended to abstract uses such as validity, integrity, or purity.

In law: vitiation refers to factors that render a contract or legal act defective, such as misrepresentation, duress, mistake, or illegality; these vitiating factors may render consent defective and make a contract voidable rather than void. Vitiating an evidentiary or procedural aspect is used to describe tainting or invalidation of evidence or procedure.

In other contexts: vitiation can describe the degradation of moral character, the weakening of an argument, or the contamination of a substance that undermines its intended use or authority. For example, contamination or bias may vitiate the credibility of testimony or the purity of a sample.

See also

- Vitiation

- Vitiatory

- Invalidate

- Corruption