purity

[ pyoor-i-tee ]

noun

1. the condition or quality of being pure; freedom from anything that debases, contaminates, pollutes, etc.:

   the purity of drinking water.

2. freedom from any admixture or modifying addition.
3. ceremonial or ritual cleanness.
4. freedom from guilt or evil; innocence.
5. physical chastity; virginity.
6. freedom from foreign or inappropriate elements; careful correctness:

   purity of expression.

7. Optics. the chroma, saturation, or degree of freedom from white of a given color.
8. cleanness or spotlessness, as of garments.

purity

/ ˈpjʊərɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state or quality of being pure
2. physics a measure of the amount of a single-frequency colour in a mixture of spectral and achromatic colours

Other Words From

• hyper·puri·ty noun
• super·puri·ty noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of purity¹

1175–1225; < Late Latin pūritās ( pure, -ity ); replacing Middle English pur ( e ) te < Anglo-French < Late Latin, as above

Example Sentences

Sierra Club founder John Muir rhapsodized about the purity of wilderness, supporting the push to protect Yosemite’s lands from the “dirty” influence of the native tribes who inhabited it.

From Salon

The Nazis used some of the same references, braiding environmental purity and racial purity.

From Salon

Tanton’s belief that mass immigration would supplant white America had one particular focus: He saw it as a threat to the country’s ecology and ultimately to the consensus among environmentalists about preserving the purity of that ecology.

From Salon

To Tarrant, conserving the purity of lands was indistinguishable from conserving white European ideals and beliefs.

From Salon

There’s a purity to that approach.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cleanliness