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Webster 1913 Edition

Pure

Pure

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Purer
;
sup
erl.
Purest
.]
[OE.
pur
, F.
pur
, fr. L.
purus
; akin to
putus
pure, clear,
putare
to clean, trim, prune, set in order, settle, reckon, consider, think, Skr.
p[GREEK]
to clean, and perh. E.
fire
. Cf.
Putative
.]
1.
Separate from all heterogeneous or extraneous matter; free from mixture or combination; clean; mere; simple; unmixed;
as,
pure
water;
pure
clay;
pure
air;
pure
compassion.
The
pure
fetters on his shins great.
Chaucer.
A guinea is
pure
gold if it has in it no alloy.
I. Watts.
2.
Free from moral defilement or quilt; hence, innocent; guileless; chaste; – applied to persons.
“Keep thyself pure.”
1 Tim. v. 22.
Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a
pure
heart, and of a good conscience.
1 Tim. i. 5.
3.
Free from that which harms, vitiates, weakens, or pollutes; genuine; real; perfect; – applied to things and actions.
“Pure religion and impartial laws.”
Tickell.
“The pure, fine talk of Rome.”
Ascham.
Such was the origin of a friendship as warm and
pure
as any that ancient or modern history records.
Macaulay.
4.
(Script.)
Ritually clean; fitted for holy services.
Thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the
pure
table before the Lord.
Lev. xxiv. 6.
5.
(Phonetics)
Of a single, simple sound or tone; – said of some vowels and the unaspirated consonants.
Pure-impure
,
completely or totally impure.
“The inhabitants were pure-impure pagans.”
Fuller.
–
Pure blue
.
(Chem.)
See
Methylene blue
, under
Methylene
.
–
Pure chemistry
.
See under
Chemistry
.
–
Pure mathematics
,
that portion of mathematics which treats of the principles of the science, or contradistinction to applied mathematics, which treats of the application of the principles to the investigation of other branches of knowledge, or to the practical wants of life.
See
Mathematics
.
Davies & Peck (Math. Dict. )
–
Pure villenage
(Feudal Law)
,
a tenure of lands by uncertain services at the will of the lord.
Blackstone.
Syn. – Unmixed; clear; simple; real; true; genuine; unadulterated; uncorrupted; unsullied; untarnished; unstained; stainless; clean; fair; unspotted; spotless; incorrupt; chaste; unpolluted; undefiled; immaculate; innocent; guiltless; guileless; holy.

Webster 1828 Edition

Pure

PURE

,
Adj.
[L. purus.]
1.
Separate from all heterogeneous or extraneous matter; clear; free from mixture; as pure water; pure clay; pure sand; pure air; pure silver of gold. Pure wine is very scare.
2.
Free from moral defilement; without spot; not sullied or tarnished; incorrupt; undebased by moral turpitude; holy.
Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil. Hab.1. Prov.20.
3.
Genuine; real; true; incorrupt; unadulterated; as pure religion. James 1.
4.
Unmixed; separate from any other subject or from every thing foreign; as pure mathematics.
5.
Free from guilt; guiltless; innocent.
No hand of strife is pure, but that which wins.
6.
Not vitiated with improper or corrupt words or phrases; as a pure style of discourse or composition.
7.
Disinterested; as pure benevolence.
8.
Chaste; as a pure virgin.
9.
Free from vice or moral turpitude. Tit.1.
10. Ceremonially clean; unpolluted. Ezra 6.
11. Free from any thing improper; as, his motives are pure.
12. Mere; absolute; that and that only; unconnected with any thing else; as a pure villain. He did that from pure compassion, or pure good nature.

PURE

,
Verb.
T.
To purify; to cleanse. [Not in use.]

Definition 2024

pure

pure

See also: puré, purè, and purê

English

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /pjʊə/, /pjɔː/
  • Rhymes: -ʊə(r), -ɔː(ɹ)
  • (US) IPA(key): /pjɔɹ/, /pjʊɚ/, /pjɝ/

Adjective

pure ‎(comparative purer or more pure, superlative purest or most pure)

  1. Free of flaws or imperfections; unsullied.
    • Thomas Macaulay (1800-1859)
      Such was the origin of a friendship as warm and pure as any that ancient or modern history records.
  2. Free of foreign material or pollutants.
    • Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
      A guinea is pure gold if it has in it no alloy.
  3. Free of immoral behavior or qualities; clean.
  4. (of a branch of science) Done for its own sake instead of serving another branch of science.
    • 2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892:
      The [Isaac] Newton that emerges from the [unpublished] manuscripts is far from the popular image of a rational practitioner of cold and pure reason. The architect of modern science was himself not very modern. He was obsessed with alchemy.
  5. (phonetics) Of a single, simple sound or tone; said of some vowels and the unaspirated consonants.
  6. (of sound) Without harmonics or overtones; not harsh or discordant.
Synonyms
Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms
Translations

Adverb

pure ‎(comparative more pure, superlative most pure)

  1. (Liverpudlian) to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.
    You’re pure busy.
Translations

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

pure ‎(uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of puer
    • 1851, H. Mayhew, London Labour and the London poor, vII. 142/1:
      […] Dogs'-dung is called ‘Pure’, from its cleansing and purifying properties.
    • 1842, The Penny Magazine, May 212/1:
      […] A solution called the ‘pure’ or the 'pewer' (having never seen the word written.., we must spell it as pronounced) is prepared in a large vessel, and into this the skins are immersed.

Anagrams

Danish

Etymology 1

From Latin pūre, the adverb of pūrus ‎(“clean, pure”); or the definite form of pur ‎(“pure”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /puːrə/, [ˈpʰuːɐ̯]

Adjective

pure

  1. complete
  2. (adverbial) completely
Inflection
Inflection of pure
Positive Comparative Superlative
Common singular pure — —2
Neuter singular pure — —2
Plural pure — —2
Definite attributive1 pure — —
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Etymology 2

From French purée ‎(“puree”).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pyre/, [pʰyˈʁæ]

Noun

pure c (singular definite pureen, plural indefinite pureer)

  1. puree
Inflection

Etymology 3

Non-lemma forms.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /puːrə/, [ˈpʰuːɐ̯]

Adjective

pure

  1. definite of pur
  2. plural of pur

Esperanto

Adverb

pure

  1. purely

Finnish

Verb

pure

  1. Indicative present connegative form of purra.
  2. Second-person singular imperative present form of purra.
  3. Second-person singular imperative present connegative form of purra.

Anagrams

French

Adjective

pure

  1. feminine singular of pur

Anagrams

German

Adjective

pure

  1. inflected form of pur

Italian

Etymology 1

Adjective

pure f pl

  1. feminine plural of puro

Etymology 2

From Latin pūrē, the adverb of pūrus.[1]

Adverb

pure

  1. too, also, as well
  2. well, surely
  3. please, by all means
  4. if you like; if you want (etc.)
    (with third-person subjunctive) Parli pure‎ ― let him speak if he likes
    (with imperative) Parla pure‎ ― Speak if you like
    (with formal subjunctive-imperative) Lei parli pure‎ ― Speak if you like
Synonyms

Conjunction

pure

  1. even though, even if, although
  2. nevertheless

References

  1. ↑ Angelo Prati, "Vocabolario Etimologico Italiano", Torino, 1951; headword pure

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology 1

From pūrus ‎(“clean; pure”) and -e ‎(“-ly, -ily”).

Adverb

pūrē

  1. clearly, brightly, cleanly
  2. correctly, faultlessly, perfectly, purely syn.
    Loqui pure.
    To speak correctly.
Synonyms

Etymology 2

Noun

pūre

  1. ablative singular of pūs

References

  • pure in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • pure in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
    • (ambiguous) logic, dialectic: dialectica (-ae or -orum) (pure Latin disserendi ratio et scientia)
    • (ambiguous) astronomy: astrologia (pure Latin sidera, caelestia)

Rapa Nui

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *pule.

Noun

pure

  1. cowrie

Swedish

Adjective

pure

  1. absolute definite natural masculine form of pur.

Etymology

From Middle English pur, from Old French pur, from Latin purus ‎(“clean, free from dirt or filth, unmixed, plain”), from Proto-Indo-European *peu-, *pu- ‎(“to cleanse, purify”). Displaced native Middle English lutter ‎(“pure, clear, sincere”) (from Old English hlūtor, hluttor), Middle English skere ‎(“pure, sheer, clear”) (from Old English scǣre and Old Norse skǣr), Middle English schir ‎(“clear, pure”) (from Old English scīr), Middle English smete, smeate ‎(“pure, refined”) (from Old English smǣte; compare Old English mǣre ‎(“pure”)).

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