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pure

[pyoo r]
See more synonyms for pure on Thesaurus.com
adjective, pur·er, pur·est.
  1. free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter: pure gold; pure water.
  2. unmodified by an admixture; simple or homogeneous.
  3. of unmixed descent or ancestry: a pure breed of dog.
  4. free from foreign or inappropriate elements: pure Attic Greek.
  5. clear; free from blemishes: pure skin.
  6. (of literary style) straightforward; unaffected.
  7. abstract or theoretical (opposed to applied): pure science.
  8. without any discordant quality; clear and true: pure tones in music.
  9. absolute; utter; sheer: to sing for pure joy.
  10. being that and nothing else; mere: a pure accident.
  11. clean, spotless, or unsullied: pure hands.
  12. untainted with evil; innocent: pure in heart.
  13. physically chaste; virgin.
  14. ceremonially or ritually clean.
  15. free of or without guilt; guiltless.
  16. independent of sense or experience: pure knowledge.
  17. Biology, Genetics.
    1. homozygous.
    2. containing only one characteristic for a trait.
  18. Phonetics. monophthongal.
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Origin of pure

1250–1300; Middle English pur < Old French < Latin pūrus clean, unmixed, plain, pure
Related formspure·ness, nounhy·per·pure, adjectivehy·per·pure·ly, adverbhy·per·pure·ness, nounsu·per·pure, adjectiveun·pure, adjectiveun·pure·ly, adverbun·pure·ness, noun

Synonyms

See more synonyms for pure on Thesaurus.com
1. unmixed, unadulterated, unalloyed, uncontaminated, untainted, unstained, undefiled, untarnished, immaculate, unpolluted, uncorrupted. 12. modest, virtuous, undefiled.

Synonym study

1. See clean.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pureness

Historical Examples

  • The antiquity of my family and the pureness of my Castilian blood!

    Confessions Of Con Cregan

    Charles James Lever

  • Singleness of heart is come; pureness of heart is come; joy and gladness is come.

    George Fox

    George Fox

  • And just such affirmations must be made concerning Lincoln's pureness.

  • And then he goes on to what he justly calls "the other great Christian virtue, Pureness."

    Matthew Arnold

    G. W. E. Russell

  • It has the solidity of earth, the pureness of air, the glow of fire, and the clearness of water.

British Dictionary definitions for pureness

pure

adjective
  1. not mixed with any extraneous or dissimilar materials, elements, etcpure nitrogen
  2. free from tainting or polluting matter; clean; wholesomepure water
  3. free from moral taint or defilementpure love
  4. (prenominal) (intensifier)pure stupidity; a pure coincidence
  5. (of a subject, etc) studied in its theoretical aspects rather than for its practical applicationspure mathematics; pure science Compare applied
  6. (of a vowel) pronounced with more or less unvarying quality without any glide; monophthongal
  7. (of a consonant) not accompanied by another consonant
  8. of supposedly unmixed racial descent
  9. genetics biology breeding true for one or more characteristics; homozygous
  10. music
    1. (of a sound) composed of a single frequency without overtones
    2. (of intervals in the system of just intonation) mathematically accurate in respect to the ratio of one frequency to another
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Derived Formspureness, noun

Word Origin

C13: from Old French pur, from Latin pūrus unstained
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pureness

pure

adj.

c.1300 (late 12c. as a surname, and Old English had purlamb "lamb without a blemish"), "unmixed," also "absolutely, entirely," from Old French pur "pure, simple, absolute, unalloyed," figuratively "simple, sheer, mere" (12c.), from Latin purus "clean, clear; unmixed; unadorned; chaste, undefiled," from PIE root *peue- "to purify, cleanse" (cf. Latin putus "clear, pure;" Sanskrit pavate "purifies, cleanses," putah "pure;" Middle Irish ur "fresh, new;" Old High German fowen "to sift").

Replaced Old English hlutor. Meaning "free from moral corruption" is first recorded mid-14c. In reference to bloodlines, attested from late 15c.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
pureness in Medicine

pure

(pyur)
adj.
  1. Having a homogeneous or uniform composition; not mixed.
  2. Free from adulterants or impurities.
  3. Produced by self-fertilization or continual inbreeding; homozygous.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.