Defilement – this legal term finds application in the area of Canon Law It details the act of desecration, pollution. In other words – treating or using something that is sacred with irreverence. For example, within the sphere of Criminal Law in many legal systems, this term details a robbery of sacred items in a church. Icons, crucifixions etc. are such sacred items.
Defilement could have also the meaning of entering into the unworthy or improper usage of something. Synonyms are blasphemy, desecration, impiety, profanation, and sacrilege.