Debauch Definition
dĭ-bôch
debauched, debauches, debauching
verb
debauched, debauches, debauching
To lead astray morally; corrupt; deprave.
Webster's New World
To seduce (someone).
American Heritage
To reduce the value, quality, or excellence of; debase.
Debauch a currency.
American Heritage
To cause to forsake allegiance.
American Heritage
To indulge in dissipation.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
noun
debauches
The act or a period of debauchery.
American Heritage
Webster's New World
An orgy.
Webster's New World
An act of debauchery.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
- bacchanalia
- bacchanal
- drunken revelry
- riot
- saturnalia
- debauchery
- orgy
Origin of Debauch
-
1590s, from Middle French desbaucher (“entice from work or duty”), from Old French desbaucher (“to lead astray”), from des- + bauch (“beam”), from Frankish *balko, from Proto-Germanic *balkô, from Proto-Indo-European *bhelg- (“beam, plank”); latter origin of balk.
From Wiktionary
Evolution of sense unclear; may be literally “to shave/trim wood to make a beam” or may be “to leave/lure someone from a workshop”, Frankish *balko perhaps also meaning “workshop”.
From Wiktionary
French débaucher from Old French desbauchier to lead astray, roughhew timber des- de- bauch beam of Germanic origin
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition