purgation

[ pur-gey-shuhn ]

noun

1. the act of purging.

purgation

/ pɜːˈɡeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of purging or state of being purged; purification

Other Words From

• nonpur·gation noun
• super·pur·gation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of purgation¹

1325–75; Middle English purgacioun (< Anglo-French ) < Latin pūrgātiōn- (stem of pūrgātiō ) a cleansing, purging, equivalent to pūrgāt ( us ) (past participle of pūrgāre to make clean or pure, derivative of pūrus pure ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

Maybe it was something I needed to write for myself, a quiet purgation that I’d keep in the cold, dark storage of my laptop’s hard drive forever.

From Los Angeles Times

The experience was extraordinarily grueling — a stripping and peeling feeling, with each regimen creating a feeling of purgation, followed by temporary relief, followed by doing it all over again.

From New York Times

A belated processing of the loss of a parent by a daughter who now has children of her own, it is a touched-with-grace ritual of probing and purgation: about the elements of inheritance that must be passed down, the poison bits that must be expelled and the missing pieces it is too late to claim.

From New York Times

First, the attempt to use racial-education programs to construct a stronger sense of shared white identity, on the apparent theory that making Americans of European ancestry think of themselves as defined by a toxic “whiteness” will lead to its purgation.

From New York Times

Subsequent audio files then move you from bedroom to bathroom to kitchen and back, exploring alimentation, purgation and other mundane aspects of the day-to-day.

From New York Times