Purify
/ˈpjʊərɪfaɪ/
Definitions
2 meaningsTo make something clean or free from harmful or unwanted substances or elements.
/ˈpjʊərɪfaɪ/
To remove contaminants or impurities.
They use filters to purify the drinking water.
💡 Simply: Imagine you're making lemonade, and you have a little dirt in it. To purify the lemonade, you would carefully remove the dirt so you can enjoy a clean drink. Just like that, to purify is to remove the yucky stuff!
👶 For kids: To make something clean or pure.
More Examples
The monks perform a ceremony to purify the air.
The process is designed to purify the metals.
How It's Used
"The company uses a special filtration system to purify the water."
"The priest performed a ritual to purify the temple."
"The software cleanses and purifies data, removing any useless and/or duplicate information."
To rid of moral or spiritual impurities; to cleanse or free from guilt or sin.
/ˈpjʊərɪfaɪ/
To make morally or spiritually clean.
She went on a pilgrimage to purify her soul.
💡 Simply: Imagine you made a mistake and you feel bad. To purify your heart, you would apologize and try to make things right. Purifying can also mean to make something better, to clean it up from the inside.
👶 For kids: To make your feelings or spirit good and clean.
More Examples
The therapy helped him to purify his feelings of resentment.
The ritual was meant to purify the participants before the ceremony.
How It's Used
"The priest sought to purify the souls of the congregation."
"The experience helped to purify her anger and resentment."
From Middle English purifien, from Old French purifier, from Latin purificare (“to make pure”), from purus (“pure”) + facere (“to make”).
The word purify has been used for centuries to describe both physical and spiritual cleansing, appearing in religious texts and scientific treatises alike.
Memory tip
Think of a filter removing all the bad stuff from water; that's purifying!
Word Origin
"to make pure"