pervert

Etymology

From Old French pervertir, itself from the Latin pervertō.

noun

1. (dated) One who has been perverted; one who has turned to error; one who has turned to a twisted sense of values or morals.
2. A person whose sexual habits are not considered acceptable.
   Those perverts were trying to spy on us while we changed clothes!

verb

1. (transitive) To turn another way; to divert.
   Let's follow him, and pervert the present wrath. 1623, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline
2. (transitive) To corrupt; to cause to be untrue; corrupted or otherwise impure
   How could stopping someone from killing himself or herself "pervert the course of justice"?
   He, in the serpent, had perverted Eve. 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost
   He was a good Proteſtant, but when he fell into the Jeſuits hands, they ſoon perverted him, and made him embrace the Roman Catholick Religion […] 1690, “The Preface to the Reader”, in A Full and True Relation of the Great and Wonderful Revolution That Hapned Lately in the Kingdom of Siam in the East-Indies, London: Randal Taylor, page vi
   A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "We can confirm that a 15-year-old boy has been arrested and charged in connection with the murder of Jodi Jones. A 45-year-old has also been arrested in connection with allegations of attempting to pervert the course of justice. A report on this has been sent to the procurator fiscal." April 15, 2004, “Morning swoop in hunt for Jodi's killer”, in The Scotsman
3. To misapply, misuse, use for a nefarious purpose
   He has perverted his talents to dishonest gain.
4. to misinterpret designedly.
   pervert one's words
5. (intransitive) To become perverted; to take the wrong course.
   After that worde, "better is it to dey than lyve false," and al wolde perverted people false reporte make c. 1384, Thomas Usk, The Testament of Love