purify

[ pyoor-uh-fahy ]

/ ˈpyʊər əˌfaɪ /

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See synonyms for: purify / purified / purifying / purification 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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Origin of purify

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English purifien, from Middle French purifier, from Latin pūrificāre; see pure, -ify

OTHER WORDS FROM purify

pu·ri·fi·ca·tion

[pyoor-uh-fi-key-shuhn], /pyʊər ə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən/, nounpu·rif·i·ca·to·ry

[pyoo-rif-i-kuh-tawr-ee], /pyʊˈrɪf ɪ kəˌtɔr i/, adjectivepu·ri·fi·er, nounnon·pu·ri·fy·ing, adjective

re·pu·ri·fy, verb, re·pu·ri·fied, re·pu·ri·fy·ing.self-pu·ri·fy·ing, adjectiveun·pu·ri·fied, adjectiveun·pu·ri·fy·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use purify in a sentence

San Diego’s doing that by building the Pure Water project, a multibillion-dollar system that will purify wastewater well enough for drinking.
Water Authority Didn’t Always Take Pure Water Project Seriously, Emails Show|MacKenzie Elmer|February 17, 2021|Voice of San Diego
She then purified them, measured their biophysical properties and checked their structures with nuclear magnetic resonance for the distinctive “fingerprints” of the protein folds.
Some Proteins Change Their Folds to Perform Different Jobs|Viviane Callier|February 3, 2021|Quanta Magazine
In the desert Southwest, it might be more important to purify to drinking quality the water that comes out of the tanks.
Battling America’s ‘dirty secret’|Sarah Kaplan|December 17, 2020|Washington Post
A return to monomeric configurations, or shapes in which residues are exposed to water, would tend to be eliminated by purifying selection, selection against maladaptive variation.
Playing Go with Darwin - Issue 94: Evolving|David Krakauer|December 16, 2020|Nautilus

In Death of the Black-Haired Girl faith and reason and pragmatism and despair go at each other in a more purified personal form.
Of Sin and College: Robert Stone’s ‘Death of a Black-Haired Girl’|Tom LeClair|November 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
They rather adopted and purified it for Christian purposes, just as they did the diverse elements of ancient civilization.
The Catacombs of Rome|William Henry Withrow
It will not conserve Christianity, but may be purified by it, even if able to flourish without it.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I|John Lord
They then returned to the house which was purified by an offering to the Lars, and the funeral rites were over.
The Private Life of the Romans|Harold Whetstone Johnston
I have no faith in human nature except as it is constantly strengthened and purified by struggle.
The Inhumanity of Socialism|Edward F. Adams
He possessed a purely philosophical spirit and a soul well purified from vulgar errors.
East Anglia|J. Ewing Ritchie

British Dictionary definitions for purify

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 forms of purify

purification, 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

purify

Origin of purify

OTHER WORDS FROM purify

Words related to purify

How to use purify in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for purify

Derived forms of purify

Word Origin for purify