Purity

Etymology

Middle English purete, from Anglo-French purité, from Late Latin puritat-, puritas, from Latin purus pure

• Date: 13th Century

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Definition

• 1 : the quality or state of being (or becoming) pure

Pure

Etymology

Middle English pur, from Anglo-French, from Latin purus; akin to Old High German fowen to sift, Sanskrit punāti he cleanses, Middle Irish úr fresh, new

• Date: 14th century

Definitions

• 1 a (1) : unmixed with any other matter <pure gold> (2) : free from dust, dirt, or taint <pure springwater> (3) : spotless, stainless

b : free from harshness or roughness and being in tune —used of a musical tone c of a vowel : characterized by no appreciable alteration of articulation during utterance

• 2 a : being thus and no other : sheer, unmitigated <pure folly>

b (1) : abstract, theoretical <pure research> (2) : a priori <pure mechanics>

c : not directed toward exposition of reality or solution of practical problems <pure literature>

d : being nonobjective and to be appraised on formal and technical qualities only <pure form>

• 3 a (1) : free from what vitiates, weakens, or pollutes (2) : containing nothing that does not properly belong

b : free from moral fault or guilt

c : marked by chastity : continent

d (1) : of pure blood and unmixed ancestry (2) : homozygous in and breeding true for one or more characters

e : ritually clean

• 4 : having exactly the talents or skills needed for a particular role <a pure shooter in basketball>