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definitions

purify

[pyoo r-uh-fahy]
See more synonyms for purify on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object), pu·ri·fied, pu·ri·fy·ing.
  1. to make pure; free from anything that debases, pollutes, adulterates, or contaminates: to purify metals.
  2. to free from foreign, extraneous, or objectionable elements: to purify a language.
  3. to free from guilt or evil.
  4. to clear or purge (usually followed by of or from).
  5. to make clean for ceremonial or ritual use.
verb (used without object), pu·ri·fied, pu·ri·fy·ing.
  1. to become pure.

Origin of purify

1250–1300; Middle English purifien < Middle French purifier < Latin pūrificāre. See pure, -ify
Related formspu·ri·fi·ca·tion, nounpu·rif·i·ca·to·ry [pyoo-rif-i-kuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] /pyʊˈrɪf ɪ kəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjectivepu·ri·fi·er, nounnon·pu·ri·fi·ca·tion, nounnon·pu·ri·fy·ing, adjectivere·pu·ri·fi·ca·tion, nounre·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. 2018

Related Words for purifier

cleanser, disinfectant, refinery, refiner, soap, clarifier

Examples from the Web for purifier

Historical Examples of purifier

  • Now fill a glass nearly full of water, and stand the purifier in the glass.

  • Zoroaster was not their founder, but was their reformer, and the purifier of their doctrines.

  • Out of all womankind, she was designed to be my life's playmate and my soul's purifier.

    Kenelm Chillingly, Complete

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton

  • Very different is the saving breath of the great Sea; in itself it is a purifier.

    The Sea

    Jules Michelet

  • Its top is held up by the gas, which comes into it from the purifier.

British Dictionary definitions for purifier

purifier

noun
  1. a device or substance that frees something of extraneous, contaminating, or debasing matter

purify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied
  1. to free (something) of extraneous, contaminating, or debasing matter
  2. (tr) to free (a person, etc) from sin or guilt
  3. (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 purifier
n.

late 15c., agent noun from purify; as a type of mechanical apparatus, from 1834.

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