maculate

mac•u•late

Definition:
 adj (MAK-yuh-lit)
1. spotted; stained
2. defiled; impure

n (MAK-yuh-leyt)
3. to mark with a spot or spots; stain
4. to sully or pollute

Origin:
1375–1425; from L. maculatus, pp. of maculare "to make spotted, to speckle," from macula "spot, stain"

Related:
Synonyms: befoul, besmirch, contaminate, dirty, discolor, pollute, soil, stain, sully, taint, tar, tarnish; mottled, speckled, blotchy, motley, spotted
Antonym: immaculate

Related Words: macular, immaculate, emaculate

Sentence Examples:
• A steady twitching commenced in a muscle at the flange of his nose. Woolfolk was aware of an increasing tension in the other, that gained a peculiar oppressiveness from the lack of any corresponding outward expression. His heavy, blunt hand fumbled under the maculate apron; his chest heaved with a sudden, tempestuous breathing. - Wild Oranges, Joseph Hergesheimer

• John sat in dumb agony.  Colette's foul walls and maculate table-linen, and even down to Colette's villainous casters, seemed like objects in a nightmare. - Tales and Fantasies, Robert Louis Stevenson

• In its single garment, in its woollen hair, and upon its maculate body the doll carried, perhaps, the germs of typhoid, of pneumonia, of tetanus, and of consumption; but all night it lay in the arms of its little mother, and was not permitted to harm her or hers. - IT and Other Stories, Gouverneur Morris

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

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