Definition

to rot thoroughly, i.e. (by implication) to ruin (passively, decay utterly, figuratively, pervert)

Etymology

from G1225 (διαβάλλω) and G5351 (φθείρω);

Where the KJV renders it

• corrupt
• destroy
• perish

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Greek term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.