purification

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˌpjʊrəfəˈkeɪʃən/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    The act or process of removing impurities, contaminants, or undesirable elements from a substance, making it pure or clean.; A spiritual or religious rite or ceremony intended to cleanse a person of sin, guilt, or ritual impurity.; In chemistry and biochemistry, the process of isolating a desired compound from a mixture by removing other substances.; The state of being made pure or clean; the result of a purifying process.; In metallurgy, the removal of unwanted elements or impurities from a metal to improve its quality or properties.; In Judaism, the ritual cleansing required after certain states of ritual impurity, such as contact with a dead body or childbirth.; In Christianity, the feast commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple and the purification of the Virgin Mary, celebrated on February 2 (Candlemas).; The act of refining or improving something by removing flaws, errors, or undesirable aspects, often used figuratively.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable / uncountable Plural: purifications

Collocations

water purificationpurification processpurification of waterspiritual purificationpurification ritualair purification

Derivatives

purifypurifierpurifiedpurepuritypurificatoryimpurity

Synonyms

cleansingrefinementfiltrationdistillationsanitizationdecontamination

Antonyms

contaminationpollutioncorruption

Commonly confused

purity
EN: 'Purity' is the state or quality of being pure; 'purification' is the process or act of making something pure.
purification
EN: Not to be confused with 'purifaction' (non-standard); the correct suffix is '-fication' from Latin 'facere' (to make).

Spelling tips

EN: Remember the 'i' before '-fication': it is 'pur-i-fication,' not 'pur-a-fication.' The suffix comes from Latin 'facere' (to make).

💬 Examples

  1. The purification of water is essential before it can be safely consumed.

  2. The priest performed a purification ritual before entering the sacred temple.

  3. The purification of the protein was achieved through a series of chromatography steps.

  4. After years of meditation, she felt a sense of inner purification.

  5. The purification of iron ore into steel requires extremely high temperatures.

  6. The laws of purification in Leviticus prescribe specific procedures for restoring ritual cleanliness.

  7. The Feast of the Purification is one of the oldest Marian feasts in the Christian calendar.

  8. The editor saw the revision process as a purification of the author's original ideas.