purification

American  

[pyoor-uh-fi-key-shuhn] / pjʊər ə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

• purifications
  plural

1. the act or process of making something pure and free of any contaminating, debasing, or foreign elements.

   We fund groundbreaking development projects like water purification and clean cookstove technology.

2. the act of making something free of guilt or evil.

   Purification of the soul brings freedom from hatred, selfishness, and greed.

3. the act or process of making something clean and fit for ceremonial or ritual use.

   At this early Shinto temple, the ceremonies consisted chiefly of ritual cleansings and purifications.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonpurification
  noun
• repurification
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• purifications
  plural

Etymology

Origin of purification

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Latin pūrificātiōn-, stem of pūrificātiō “ritual cleansing”; see purify ( def. ), -ation ( def. )

Explanation

Purification is the removal of impure elements from something. After purification, water is safe to drink. Most cities have a system of water purification, so people get clean fresh drinking water without any parasites or goldfish in it. Purification is when things are cleaned and made pure. Salt water must undergo purification before it's safe to drink. Some filters do a purification of the air to reduce allergens. In some religions, purification is the removal of sin, which is another type of cleansing. For example, sumo wrestlers throw salt in the ring for purification, as part of the tradition of the Shinto religion.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

purification purifications

Chambers said he worked with volunteers to distribute sleeping bags, water purification tools, food and essentials to communities cut off by collapsed bridges, travelling to the area by helicopter.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

I’m scheduled to tour purification facilities, pipelines and compression stations that process the methane and transport it to markets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

Scientists have also been exploring the seeds for years because of their potential role in water purification.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 20, 2026

She noted that over 90% of homes lack such purification systems.

From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026

He saw the water purification plant and storehouses for food and fertilizer.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

One is an assay that would bypass laborious cell purifications and manipulations by detecting activated T cells in blood samples squirted into tubes premixed with bits of SARS-CoV-2 proteins.

From Scientific American ● May 19, 2022

He pacified his conscience by promising himself a compensatingly harder self-discipline, purifications the more complete and thorough.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

He believed in transmigration, but held that the successive stages were but purifications, and that at last the soul, cleansed from sin, went to dwell with its maker.

From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India—Volume I (of IV) by R. V. (Robert Vane) Russell

The offences have already been brought under definite categories, and in like manner the purifications and punishments fall into a number of distinct classes.

From The History of Antiquity Vol. V. by Max Duncker

So priests foretold future events from the configuration of the heavens, but professed ability to ward off threatened evils by spells and incantations, or, by purifications and sacrifices, to make the promised blessings more secure.

From Astronomical Lore in Chaucer by Florence M. Grimm

Related Words

• distillation