purity

American  

[pyoor-i-tee] / ˈpjʊər ɪ ti /

noun

• purities
  plural

1. the condition or quality of being pure; freedom from anything that debases, contaminates, pollutes, etc..

   the purity of drinking water.

2. freedom from any admixture or modifying addition.

3. ceremonial or ritual cleanness.

4. freedom from guilt or evil; innocence.

5. physical chastity; virginity.

6. freedom from foreign or inappropriate elements; careful correctness.

   purity of expression.

7. Optics. the chroma, saturation, or degree of freedom from white of a given color.

8. cleanness or spotlessness, as of garments.

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purity British  

/ ˈpjʊərɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state or quality of being pure

2. physics a measure of the amount of a single-frequency colour in a mixture of spectral and achromatic colours

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hyperpurity
  noun
• superpurity
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• purities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of purity

1175–1225; < Late Latin pūritās ( see pure, -ity); replacing Middle English pur ( e ) te < Anglo-French < Late Latin, as above

Explanation

Something that exhibits purity hasn't been tainted by something morally or physically. Children, fresh snow, and solid gold are all known for their purity. Purity comes from the Latin purus meaning "clean, clear, unmixed, chaste." When you're talking about something that is clean and unmixed, you are talking about something characterized by purity. This can refer to someone's character or intentions. It can also describe an object or element. When you're high in the mountains, far from the city's congestion, the purity of the air is a relief to the lungs.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

purity purities

Once refined to improve its purity, the extracted gold is used to make jewellery for the Royal Mint's "886" brand, which refers to the date the institution was founded.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

Both admitted they had lied about where the pills were sourced, their purity and their company's testing procedures.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

By common understanding, uranium must be enriched to a level of 20 percent purity to be deemed “highly enriched” and 90 percent to be “weapons-grade.”

From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026

Iran has 972 pounds of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026

My parents found my new urge for purity amusing.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

But there are heroes, too, who remind us of our own potential for villainy, impure mirrors who reflect back at us the false purities we hide.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 27, 2018

And Gorky was far from alone in his scorn, as painting raced toward the purities of Abstract Expressionism.

From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2015

As soon as you start to demand metals at higher purities then the costs soar.

From Forbes ● Aug. 19, 2013

But seabed explorers have found purities of 10 percent and higher — turning the obscure deposits into potential bonanzas.

From New York Times ● Jul. 9, 2012

There are purities so intense that, like fire, they burn those who would handle them, however tenderly.

From In the Wilderness by Robert Smythe Hichens

Related Words

• cleanliness