I.to destroy utterly, Il., Hdt., attic: to make away with, kill, destroy, ruin, Soph., etc.; δ. χέρα to weaken, slacken one's hand, Eur.: to disable a ship, Hdt.:—absol. to forget, Eur.
2.in moral sense, to corrupt, ruin, Aesch., Plat., etc.:— esp. to corrupt by bribes, Hdt., Dem.: to seduce, Lys.
3.οὐδὲν διαφθείρας τοῦ χρώματος having changed nothing of his colour, Plat.
II.Pass. to be destroyed, crippled, disabled, Hdt.; τὴν ἀκοὴν διεφθαρμένος deaf, id=Hdt.: τὰ σκέλεα δ. with their legs broken, id=Hdt.; τὰ ὄμματα δ. blind, Plat.; τὰς φρένας Eur.; τὸ φρενῶν διαφθαρέν loss of one's mind, id=Eur.
III.perf. διέφθορα is intr. in Hom., to have lost one's wits;— but in attic trans., Soph., Eur.