purify
Americanverb (used with object)
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purifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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purified,
past participle, past
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purifying
present participle
-
to make pure; free from anything that debases, pollutes, adulterates, or contaminates.
to purify metals.
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to free from foreign, extraneous, or objectionable elements.
to purify a language.
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to free from guilt or evil.
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to clear or purge (usually followed by of orfrom ).
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to make clean for ceremonial or ritual use.
verb (used without object)
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purifies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
purified,
past participle, past
-
purifying
present participle
verb
-
to free (something) of extraneous, contaminating, or debasing matter
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(tr) to free (a person, etc) from sin or guilt
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(tr) to make clean, as in a ritual, esp the churching of women after childbirth
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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purificationnoun
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purifiernoun
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repurifyverb
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nonpurifyingadjective
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purificatoryadjective
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self-purifyingadjective
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unpurifiedadjective
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unpurifyingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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purifysimple
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purifiessimple
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have purifiedperfect
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has purifiedperfect
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am purifyingprogressive
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are purifyingprogressive
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is purifyingprogressive
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have been purifyingperfect progressive
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has been purifyingperfect progressive
Past
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purifiedsimple
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had purifiedperfect
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was purifyingprogressive
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were purifyingprogressive
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had been purifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of purify
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English purifien, from Middle French purifier, from Latin pūrificāre; see pure, -ify
Explanation
To purify something is to remove dirt, chemicals, or anything else that it's contaminated with. You might decide to purify your tap water if it tastes like chlorine. While scientists purify various chemicals during experiments, the substance that people most often purify is water. Water needs to be treated before it's safe to drink, and cities purify the water they send out to people's houses. You can also use the verb purify in a figurative way, to mean "make ritually or religiously clean or pure." This is the word's earliest meaning, from the Latin root purificare, "to make pure."
Vocabulary lists containing purify
English Words Derived from French, List 2
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myPerspectives 9.6
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"Be Prepared" by Vera Brosgol
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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:
In such an environment, it is especially reckless to assume that war, no matter how justified, will somehow purify institutions rather than corrode them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
Ice masters look at the PH levels of the water and purify it to remove minerals and impurities.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026
The punishments were made after a "systematic review" and were needed "to enforce industry discipline, purify the football environment, and maintain fair competition", the CFA wrote on its official social media account Thursday.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
Board of Water and Power Commissioners voted to purify 45 million gallons, enough water for 500,000 people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2025
In their zeal to purify usage and safeguard the language, they have made it difficult to think clearly about felicity in expression and have muddied the task of explaining the art of writing.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
This patent-pending technology purifies the isotope by removing it from the bismuth target and then loads it onto a shipping column for incorporation into targeted alpha therapy drugs.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 11, 2025
The system purifies wastewater using a three-step advanced treatment process, and the water then percolates and is injected into the groundwater basin, where it becomes part of the supply.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2024
A key supply item is a replacement pump for the system on the ISS that purifies urine back to drinking water.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2024
A massive sewage recycling program purifies wastewater through microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet irradiation, adding to drinking supply reservoirs.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2024
It purifies me, leaving me scoured both inside and out.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
While I claim no clairvoyant skills, given the ever-diminishing quality of the air we breathe, purified air could definitely become a commodity someday.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
The Metropolitan Water District already is planning a large new facility in Carson to transform wastewater into purified drinking water.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2026
Once heated, the system releases purified lithium and water while regenerating the solvent so it can be reused repeatedly.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2026
It’s a sprawling tale of divine corruption and human treachery that ends with the world being purified by fire and flood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
‘Fortunately, this place is sacred to me. By clearing away those ghosts, you have purified it and given me a moment of clarity. I will be able to speak with you - if only briefly.’
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
The bedroom will also be the focus of new ways of purifying air.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
"The feeling is that VAR has complicated the game, instead of purifying it," Balague added.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
Sartre argued that for the antisemite, “there is no question of building a new society, but only of purifying the one that exists.”
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2025
The companies purifying water look like better bets than the high-tech customers who use it.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 9, 2025
He stuffed the purifying herbs and birch-bast wrapping into the neck of his parka, and looked down at what Renn had made for him in the night.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
