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


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


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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Word of the Day

23 February 2025

BARGAIN

(noun) an advantageous purchase; “she got a bargain at the auction”; “the stock was a real buy at that price”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, on 25 September 2016, the Birla Institute of Management Technology (India) in Uttar Pradesh, India, constructed the largest coffee cups pyramid consisting of 23,821 cups. They used paper takeaway coffee cups to build the pyramid.

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