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Showing results for purgation. Search instead for purgations.
Synonyms

purgation

American  
[pur-gay-shuhn] / pɜrˈgeɪ ʃən /

noun

  1. the act of purging.


purgation British  
/ pɜːˈɡeɪʃən /

noun

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

"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

Other Word Forms


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


Vocabulary lists containing purgation

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

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 ● Nov. 6, 2025

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 ● Oct. 21, 2025

The seventh and eighth centuries saw the growth of teaching about an intermediate place where souls undergo purification and purgation.

From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2019

That means treating it as a possible purgation, a lesson in the insufficiency of human strategies and wisdom, and a reason to embrace T.S.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2019

“You know quite well,” he said, “that trial by ordeal has been abolished, and, as for doing it by purgation, it would be impossible to find the necessary number of peers for a Queen.”

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

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