debauch

Etymology

1590s, from Middle French desbaucher (“entice from work or duty”), from Old French desbauchier (“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. 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”. Possible corruption by way of Anglicised French term bord (“edge, kerb”): kerb crawling as a synonym for prostitution. Parallels in modern German: Bordsteinschwalbe (“prostitute”, literally “Kerb-stone-swallow or kerb-bird”). English words bawd, bawdiness may be similarly connected.

noun

1. An individual act of debauchery.
   As I supported him towards his lodgings I could see that he was not only suffering from the effects of a recent debauch, but that a long course of intemperance had affected his nerves and his brain. 1884, Arthur Conan Doyle, John Barrington Cowles
   Greene died of a debauch; and Marlowe, the gracer of tragedians, perished in an ignominious brawl. 1902, Thomas Ebenezer Webb, The Mystery of William Shakespeare: A Summary of Evidence, page 242
   [T]he room probably was one which he actually used for opium debauches. 1913, Sax Rohmer, chapter 25, in The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu
2. An orgy.

verb

1. (transitive) To morally corrupt (someone); to seduce.
   But the Devil had met with too much Success in his first Attempts, not to go on with his general Resolution of debauching the Minds of Men, and bringing them off from God. 1727, Daniel Defoe, chapter 9, in The History of the Devil
2. (transitive) To debase (something); to lower the value of (something).
   [S]aving of all kinds is pointless when interest is microscopic and state-sponsored inflation is debauching the currency. 2014-03-23, Peter Hitchens, “We're being dragged into a new Cold War by a puffed-up bullfrog (and I don't mean President Putin)”, in Peter Hitchens's Blog at The Mail on Sunday (UK)
3. (intransitive) To indulge in revelry.