- to free (something) of extraneous, contaminating, or debasing matter
- (transitive) to free (a person, etc) from sin or guilt
- (transitive) to make clean, as in a ritual, esp the churching of women after childbirth
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
pu•ri•fy /ˈpyʊrəˌfaɪ/USA pronunciation
v. [~ + object], -fied, -fy•ing.
pu•ri•fi•er, n. [countable]See -pur-.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to make pure; free from anything that pollutes or contaminates.
- to free from extra or objectionable elements.
pu•ri•fi•er, n. [countable]See -pur-.
pu•ri•fy
(pyŏŏr′ə fī′),USA pronunciation v., -fied, -fy•ing.
v.t.
v.i.
pu′ri•fi•ca′tion, n.
pu•rif•i•ca•to•ry
(pyŏŏ rif′i kə tôr′ē, -tōr′ē),USA pronunciation adj.
pu′ri•fi′er, n.
v.t.
- to make pure; free from anything that debases, pollutes, adulterates, or contaminates:to purify metals.
- to free from foreign, extraneous, or objectionable elements:to purify a language.
- to free from guilt or evil.
- to clear or purge (usually fol. by of or from).
- Religionto make clean for ceremonial or ritual use.
v.i.
- to become pure.
- Latin pūrificāre. See pure, -ify
- Middle French purifier
- Middle English purifien 1250–1300
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
purify /ˈpjʊərɪˌfaɪ/ vb ( -fies, -fying, -fied)
'purify' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
activate
- aerate
- catharsis
- coulee
- distil
- elutriate
- expurgate
- filter bed
- illustrate
- ion exchange
- lustrate
- lustrum
- purée
- purgatorial
- purge
- Puritan
- refine
- sanctify
- scavenge
- scrub
- smoke
- blemish
- carminative
- chasten
- chastise
- circumcise
- clean
- clear
- decontaminate
- defecate
- distill
- edulcorate
- epuration
- freebase
- heal
- luster
- mikvah
- mundify
- pollute
- purgatory
- purificator
- rectify
- rot
- ultrafilter
- wash
- seep
- sublimate