Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Corruption

Corruption (k?r-r?p"sh?n) , noun

[French corruption, Latin corruptio.]

1.
The act of corrupting or making putrid, or state of being corrupt or putrid; decomposition or disorganization, in the process of putrefaction; putrefaction; deterioration.
The inducing and accelerating of putrefaction is a subject of very universal inquiry; for corruption is a reciprocal to “generation”. — Bacon
2.
The product of corruption; putrid matter.
3.
The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity; depravity; wickedness; impurity; bribery.
It was necessary, by exposing the gross corruptions of monasteries,... to exite popular indignation against them. — Hallam
They abstained from some of the worst methods of corruption usual to their party in its earlier days. — Bancroft

Corruption, when applied to officers, trustees, etc., signifies the inducing a violation of duty by means of pecuniary considerations.

4.
The act of changing, or of being changed, for the worse; departure from what is pure, simple, or correct; as, a corruption of style; corruption in language.
Corruption of blood can be removed only by act of Parliament. — Blackstone
Collocations (1)
Corruption of blood (Law) , taint or impurity of blood, in consequence of an act of attainder of treason or felony, by which a person is disabled from inheriting any estate or from transmitting it to others.