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English
Etymology
From Middle English purgen, from Old French purgier, from Latin pūrgō (“I make pure, I cleanse”), from pūrus (“clean, pure”) + agō (“I make, I do”).
Pronunciation
Noun
purge (plural purges)
- An act of purging.
- (medicine) An evacuation of the bowels or a vomiting.
- A cleansing of pipes.
- A forcible removal of people, for example, from political activity.
Stalin liked to ensure that his purges were not reversible.
1971, Lyndon Johnson, “"I feel like I have already been here a year"”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 24:One of the few surviving Bolsheviks with real power, Mikoyan had been brought to Moscow by Stalin in 1926, had escaped innumerable purges, and had demonstrated an uncanny ability to survive and to associate himself with the right faction at the right time.
- That which purges; especially, a medicine that evacuates the intestines; a cathartic.
1722, John Arbuthnot, Mr. Maitland’s account of inoculating the small-pox:he prescribes a Purge or a Vomit
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
the act of purging
- Bulgarian: пречистване (bg) n (prečistvane)
- Dutch: zuivering (nl) f
- Finnish: puhdistus (fi), puhdistaminen (fi)
- French: épuration (fr) f, purge (fr) f
- German: Säubern n, Säuberung (de) f, Reinigen n, Putzen (de) n
- Hungarian: tisztítás (hu), megtisztítás (hu), kitisztítás (hu)
- Korean: 숙청 (ko) n (sukcheong)
- Maori: whakawāteatanga
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: utrensking m or f, utrenskning m or f
- Portuguese: purgar (pt)
- Russian: чи́стка (ru) f (čístka), очи́стка (ru) f (očístka), очище́ние (ru) n (očiščénije)
- Spanish: purga (es) f
- Turkish: tahliye (tr), tehcir (tr), tenkil (tr), siyasal nedenlerle yer degistirtme
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evacuation of the bowels or of pipes
forcible removal of undesirable people from political activity, etc.
Verb
purge (third-person singular simple present purges, present participle purging, simple past and past participle purged)
- (transitive) To clean thoroughly; to cleanse; to rid of impurities.
- (transitive, religion) To free from sin, guilt, or the burden or responsibility of misdeeds.
- (transitive) To remove by cleansing; to wash away.
1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. , London: J Tonson, , published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 1:We'll join our cares to purge away / Our country’s crimes.
- (transitive, intransitive, medicine) To void or evacuate (the bowels or the stomach); to defecate or vomit.
- (transitive, medicine) To cause someone to purge, operate on (somebody) as or with a cathartic or emetic, or in a similar manner.
1979, Octavia Butler, Kindred:"What did they die of?” I asked.
"Fevers. The doctor came and bled them and purged them, but they still died."
"He bled and purged babies?"
"They were two and three. He said it would break the fever. And it did. But they … they died anyway."
- (transitive, of a person) To forcibly remove, e.g., from political activity.
Deng Xiaoping was purged twice during the Cultural Revolution, but managed to return to power after Mao's death.
- (transitive, of an organization, by extension) To forcibly remove people from.
Cromwell had Colonel Pride purge Parliament of royalists who opposed Charles I's execution.
- (transitive, law) To clear of a charge, suspicion, or imputation.
- (transitive) To clarify; to clear the dregs from (liquor).
- (intransitive) To become pure, as by clarification.
- (intransitive) To have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic.
- (transitive) To trim, dress, or prune.
Derived terms
Translations
to clean thoroughly; to cleanse; to rid of impurities
- Bulgarian: пречиствам (bg) (prečistvam)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
- Dutch: zuiveren (nl), louteren (nl), reinigen (nl)
- Estonian: puhastama
- Finnish: puhdistaa (fi)
- French: éliminer (fr)
- German: säubern (de), reinigen (de), läutern (de), entschlacken (de), eliminieren (de), löschen (de), spülen (de)
- Hungarian: megtisztít (hu), kitisztít (hu)
- Italian: purgare (it)
- Japanese: please add this translation if you can
- Latin: luo
- Middle English: purgen
- Norwegian: rense
- Portuguese: purgar (pt)
- Russian: чи́стить (ru) impf (čístitʹ), очища́ть (ru) impf (očiščátʹ), очи́стить (ru) impf (očístitʹ)
- Spanish: purgar (es)
- Swedish: rensa (sv)
- Tocharian B: tälp-
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religion: to free from sin, guilt, or the burden or responsibility of misdeeds
medicine: to void or evacuate; to defecate or vomit
medicine: to cause someone to purge, operate on (somebody) as or with a cathartic or emetic, or in a similar manner
(of a person) to forcibly remove, e.g., from political activity
(of an organization) to forcibly remove people from
to clear of a charge, suspicion, or imputation
to clarify; to clear the dregs from (liquor)
to become pure, as by clarification
Translations to be checked
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
Noun
purge f (plural purges)
- purge
Verb
purge
- inflection of purger:
- first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- second-person singular imperative
Further reading
Middle English
Verb
purge
- Alternative form of purgen
Norman
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
purge f (plural purges)
- (Jersey) purgative