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definitions

purify

[ pyoo r-uh-fahy ]
/ ˈpyʊər əˌfaɪ /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR purify ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), pu·ri·fied, pu·ri·fy·ing.

to make pure; free from anything that debases, pollutes, adulterates, or contaminates: to purify metals.
to free from foreign, extraneous, or objectionable elements: to purify a language.
to free from guilt or evil.
to clear or purge (usually followed by of or from).
to make clean for ceremonial or ritual use.

verb (used without object), pu·ri·fied, pu·ri·fy·ing.

to become pure.

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RELATED WORDS

absolve, atone, wash, lustrate, fumigate, expiate, purge, decontaminate, sanitize, exculpate, aerate, oxygenate, clarify, redeem, shrive, cleanse, exonerate, chasten, sublimate, deodorize

Nearby words

purificator, purificatory, purified protein derivative of tuberculin, purifier, puriform, purify, purim, purine, puriri, purism, purist

Origin of purify

1250–1300; Middle English purifien < Middle French purifier < Latin pūrificāre. See pure, -ify
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for purified

British Dictionary definitions for purified

purify

/ (ˈpjʊərɪˌfaɪ) /

verb -fies, -fying or -fied

to free (something) of extraneous, contaminating, or debasing matter
(tr) to free (a person, etc) from sin or guilt
(tr) to make clean, as in a ritual, esp the churching of women after childbirth
Derived Formspurification, nounpurificatory (ˈpjʊərɪfɪˌkeɪtərɪ), adjective

Word Origin for purify

C14: from Old French purifier, from Late Latin pūrificāre to cleanse, from pūrus pure + facere to make
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 purified

purify

v.

early 14c., "free from spiritual pollution," from Old French purefier "purify, cleanse, refine" (12c.), from Latin purificare "to make pure," from purus "pure" (see pure) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Meaning "free from extraneous matter" is recorded from mid-15c. Related: Purified; purifying.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper