De*prav"i*ty (?), n. [From Deprave: cf. L. pravitas crookedness, perverseness.]
The
state of being depraved or corrupted; a vitiated state of moral character; general badness of character; wickedness
of mind or heart; absence of religious feeling and principle.
Total depravity. See Original sin, and Calvinism.
Syn. -- Corruption; vitiation; wickedness;
vice; contamination;
degeneracy. -- Depravity, Depravation, Corruption. Depravilty is a vitiated state of mind
or feeling; as, the depravity of the human heart; depravity of public morals. Depravation points to the act or process of making depraved, and hence to the
end thus reached; as, a gradual
depravation of principle; a depravation of manners,
of the heart, etc. Corruption is the only one
of these words which applies to physical substances, and in reference to these denotes the process by which their component parts are dissolved. Hence, when figuratively used, it denotes
an utter vitiation of principle or feeling. Depravity
applies only to the mind and
heart: we can speak of
a depraved taste, or a corrupt taste; in the first
we introduce the notion that there has been the
influence of bad training to pervert; in the second, that there is a want of true
principle to pervert; in the second, that there is
a want of true principles to decide. The other two words have a wider use: we can speak of the
depravation or the corruption of taste and
public sentiment. Depravity is more or less
open; corruption is more or less disguised in its operations. What is depraved requires to be reformed; what is corrupt requires to be purified.
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