depravation

Founding-era definition · Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

DEPRAVATION, noun 1. The act of making bad or worse; the act of corrupting. 2. The state of being made bad or worse; degeneracy; a state in which good qualities are lost, or impaired. We speak of the depravation of morals, manners or goverment; of the heart or mind; of nature, taste, etc. 3. Censure; defamation.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI

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