Etymograph

English

purify

Purify comes from Latin pūrificō, 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 CEpūrificō2
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400purifier2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500purifien2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2020purify2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin purus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English purify
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World: “The modern arts deviate from the standards set forth…”.

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, English purify‘pure’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūrificōWiktionary, English purify
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400purifierWiktionary, English purify
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500purifienWiktionary, English purify
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2020purifyWiktionary, English purify. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World: “The modern arts deviate from the standards set forth…”

Linked words

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

deputy, reputation, pity, pious, piety, putative, expiation, puro, 15 more

through Proto-Italic *pūros

impure, puree, impurity, 7 more

through Latin pūrus ‘pure’

pure, pour, purity, purist, 10 more

Today it means

verb To cleanse, or rid of impurities.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “purify”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin purus. 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- / purify

Shirt and support for this word