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

His wife died soon after at Taos, New Mexico, and the children fell to the care of a brother in law, Mr. Boggs, who had a large ranche on the Purgation near Fort Lyon.

From The Life of Kit Carson Hunter, Trapper, Guide, Indian Agent and Colonel U.S.A. by Ellis, Edward Sylvester

I accordingly wrote him that I had exhausted my ability to provide for him, and advised him to return to his uncle Boggs on the Purgation to assist him in his cattle and sheep ranche.

From The Life of Kit Carson Hunter, Trapper, Guide, Indian Agent and Colonel U.S.A. by Ellis, Edward Sylvester

Next, the disciplining and simplifying of the affections and will, the orientation of the heart; which is sometimes called by the formidable name of Purgation.

From Practical Mysticism A Little Book for Normal People by Underhill, Evelyn

This way of Purgation is of the same nature with the old Ordeals of the Pagans.

From The Wonders of the Invisible World Being an Account of the Tryals of Several Witches Lately Executed in New-England, to which is added A Farther Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches by Mather, Cotton

In the centre of the picture, in the distance, the Mountain of Purgation rises over the shore of the lonely ocean, on the little island where rushes alone grow above the soft mud.

From The Story of Florence by Gardner, Edmund G.