purgation

American  

[pur-gey-shuhn] / pɜrˈgeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of purging.

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purgation British  

/ pɜːˈɡeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of purging or state of being purged; purification

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Other Word Forms

• nonpurgation noun
• superpurgation noun

Etymology

Origin of purgation

1325–75; Middle English purgacioun (< Anglo-French ) < Latin pūrgātiōn- (stem of pūrgātiō ) a cleansing, purging, equivalent to pūrgāt ( us ) (past participle of pūrgāre to make clean or pure, derivative of pūrus pure ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

We do serious metaphysical work for them—aiding their future, speeding their purgation, and keeping them present in the thick cosmos that surrounds us.

From The Wall Street Journal

Masli responded by dreaming up a ritual involving a sock that was set on fire in symbolic purgation of burdensome resentments.

From Los Angeles Times

Maybe it was something I needed to write for myself, a quiet purgation that I’d keep in the cold, dark storage of my laptop’s hard drive forever.

From Los Angeles Times

Subsequent audio files then move you from bedroom to bathroom to kitchen and back, exploring alimentation, purgation and other mundane aspects of the day-to-day.

From New York Times

Part of the fantasy of the baths has always been about the grace of purgation — this urge to slough away the lesser parts of ourselves and let our better selves emerge instead: rarefied, whittled, purified.

From New York Times