maculate

English

Etymology

From Latin maculātus, past participle of maculāre (“to spot”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmækjʊleɪt/ (verb):

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈmækjʊlət/ (adjective):
• Rhymes: -ækjʊleɪt, -ækjʊlət

Verb

maculate (third-person singular simple present maculates, present participle maculating, simple past and past participle maculated)

1. To spot; to stain; to blur.
   • 1531, Thomas Elyot, The Boke Named the Governour […], London: […] Tho[mas] Bertheleti, →OCLC:

     they wolde nat maculate the honour of their people with suche a reproche

   • 1918, Louis Joseph Vance, “Chapter 21”, in The False Faces:

     There was a fresh smell in the air. Sidewalks began to be maculated with spreading areas of dryness

Derived terms

• bimaculate
• maculism

Translations

To spot; to stain; to blur

Bulgarian: опетнявам (bg) (opetnjavam) Russian: загрязнять (ru) (zagrjaznjatʹ), па́чкать (ru) (páčkatʹ) Spanish: macular (es)

Adjective

maculate (comparative more maculate, superlative most maculate) (now rare)

1. Marked with spots or maculae; blotched.
2. Defiled; impure.
   • 1998 May 25, The New Republic:

     [Les Misérables is] about the struggle of a mistreated man as he rises to the top, along with a mortal conflict between this maculate virtuous man and an immaculate pursuing demon.

Translations

Marked with spots or maculae; blotched — see also maculated

Bulgarian: покрит с петна (pokrit s petna) Dutch: gespikkeld (nl), vlekkerig (nl) Russian: пятни́стый (ru) (pjatnístyj) Spanish: macular (es)

Defiled; impure

French: impur (fr) Russian: гря́зный (ru) (grjáznyj)

References

• “maculate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Italian

Adjective

maculate

1. feminine plural of maculato

Anagrams

• calumate, malcaute

Latin

Participle

maculāte

1. vocative masculine singular of maculātus

Spanish

Verb

maculate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of macular combined with te