PURIFY

purify, sublimate, make pure, distill

(verb) remove impurities from, increase the concentration of, and separate through the process of distillation; “purify the water”

purify, purge, sanctify

(verb) make pure or free from sin or guilt; “he left the monastery purified”

purify

(verb) become clean or pure or free of guilt and sin; “The hippies came to the ashram in order to purify”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Verb

purify (third-person singular simple present purifies, present participle purifying, simple past and past participle purified)

(transitive) To cleanse, or rid of impurities.

(transitive) To free from guilt or sin.

(intransitive) To become pure.

Antonyms

• defile

Source: Wiktionary

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Pu"ri*fy v. t. [imp. & p. p. Purified; p. pr. & vb. n. Purifying.] Etym: [F.purifier, L. purificare; purus pure + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See Pure, and -fy.]

1. To make pure or clear from material defilement, admixture, or imperfection; to free from extraneous or noxious matter; as, to purify liquors or metals; to purify the blood; to purify the air.

2. Hence, in figurative uses: (a) To free from guilt or moral defilement; as, to purify the heart. And fit them so Purified to receive him pure. Milton.

(b) To free from ceremonial or legal defilement. And Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, . . . and purified the altar. Lev. viii. 15. Purify both yourselves and your captives. Num. xxxi. 19.

(c) To free from improprieties or barbarisms; as, to purify a language. Sprat.

Pu"ri*fy, v. i.

Definition: To grow or become pure or clear.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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