'Contaminate' is Latin for 'made impure by touching' — pollution that spreads through contact.
To make impure by exposure to or addition of a poisonous or polluting substance; to corrupt or taint.
From Latin 'contāminātus,' the past participle of 'contāmināre' (to make impure, to corrupt, to defile by contact, to mix improperly), derived from 'contāmen' (contact, contagion, pollution), which is related to 'contingere' (to touch on all sides, to come into contact with). 'Contingere' is composed of 'con-' (together, with, on all sides) + 'tangere' (to touch), from PIE *tag- (to touch, to handle, to grasp). The same root *tag- produced 'tangible,' 'contact,' 'contagion,' 'intact' (untouched), 'tactile,' and Latin 'attingere' (to attain — to touch toward). The semantic core is pollution through
In linguistics, 'contamination' has a technical meaning: the blending of two words or phrases to create a new form. 'Irregardless' (from 'irrespective' + 'regardless') is a classic contamination. 'Brunch' (breakfast + lunch) is a deliberate one. The linguistic usage preserves the etymological idea of impurity through contact — two forms 'touching' and corrupting each other