Etymograph

English

impurity

Impurity comes from Latin impuritas ‘uncleanness’, from pūrus ‘pure’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- ‘to cleanse, purify’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewH-1‘to cleanse, purify’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pūros1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūrus2‘pure’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpūrus3‘unclean, filthy, foul, dirty’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpuritas4‘uncleanness’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600impurité4
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2013impurity4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin purus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin impurus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin impuritas
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English impurity
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, A better waterworks: “An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewH-Wiktionary, Latin purus‘to cleanse, purify’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pūrosWiktionary, Latin purusreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūrusWiktionary, Latin impurus‘pure’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpūrusWiktionary, Latin impuritas‘unclean, filthy, foul, dirty’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpuritasWiktionary, English impurity‘uncleanness’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600impuritéWiktionary, English impurity
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2013impurityWiktionary, English impurity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, A better waterworks: “An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized…”

Formed from impure + -ity

Proto-Indo-European *pewH- ‘to cleanse, purify’

Proto-Italic *pūros

Latin pūrus ‘pure’

Latin impūrus ‘impure, defiled, filthy, infamous, vile’

Middle French impur

English impure

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pewH- ‘to cleanse, purify’

reputation, deputy, pity, pious, piety, putative, expiation, puro, 16 more

through Proto-Italic *pūros

puree, 8 more

through Latin pūrus ‘pure’

pure, pour, purification, purify, purist, 9 more

Today it means

noun The condition of being impure; because of contamination, pollution, adulteration or insufficient purification.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “impurity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin purus, Latin impurus, Latin impuritas. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pewH- / impurity

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