pure

The nun's pure intentions are a testament of her devotion to her faith.

adjective

The definition of pure is something that is not mixed with any other elements, that is not contaminated in any way or a person who has no sins or who is wholesome.

An example of pure is what that has not been mixed with anything else.
An example of pure is a nun who is moral and virtuous.

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"pure." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 24 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Pure>.

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pure. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Pure

pure

adjective

pur′er, pur′est

1. free from any adulterant; unmixed: pure maple syrup
2. free from anything that taints, impairs, infects, etc.; clear: pure water or air
simple; mere: pure luck
utter; absolute; sheer: pure lunacy
free from defects; perfect; faultless
free from sin or guilt; blameless
virgin or chaste
of unmixed stock; purebred
restricted to the abstract or theoretical aspects: pure physics
Bible ceremonially undefiled
Phonet. articulated without any change in quality and with virtually no movement of the vocal organs; monophthongal: (e) is a pure vowel

Origin of pure

Middle English pur from Old French from Classical Latin purus, pure from Indo-European base an unverified form peu-, an unverified form p?-, to purify, cleanse from source Sanskrit pun?ti, (he) cleanses, Classical Latin putare, to cleanse, Old High German fowen, to sift

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MLA Style

"pure." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 24 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Pure>.

APA Style

pure. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Pure

pure

adjective

pur·er, pur·est

a. Having a homogeneous or uniform composition; not mixed: pure oxygen.
b. Free of dirt, pollutants, infectious agents, or other unwanted elements: pure water.
c. Containing nothing inappropriate or extraneous: a pure style of piano playing.
Complete; utter: pure folly.
a. Having no moral failing or guilt: “I felt pure and sweet as a new baby” ( Sylvia Plath )
b. Chaste; virgin.
Of unmixed blood or ancestry.
Genetics Produced by self-fertilization or continual inbreeding; homozygous: a pure line.
Music Free from discordant qualities: pure tones.
Linguistics Articulated with a single unchanging speech sound; monophthongal: a pure vowel.
Theoretical; not applied: pure science.
Philosophy Free of empirical elements: pure reason.

Origin of pure

Middle English pur from Old French from Latin pūrus ; see peuə- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

pure′ly
adverb

pure′ness
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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MLA Style

"pure." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 24 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Pure>.

APA Style

pure. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Pure

pure

pure absolute sheer ²simple unadulterated

These adjectives mean free of extraneous elements: pure gold; absolute oxygen; sheer alcohol; a simple substance; unadulterated coffee.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"pure." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 24 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Pure>.

APA Style

pure. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Pure

Adjective

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

free of flaws or imperfections; unsullied
free of foreign material or pollutants
- I. Watts
  A guinea is pure gold if it has in it no alloy.
free of immoral behavior or qualities; clean
of a branch of science, done for its own sake instead of serving another branch of science.
(phonetics) Of a single, simple sound or tone; said of some vowels and the unaspirated consonants.
(of sound) Without harmonics or overtones; not harsh or discordant.

Related terms

Adverb

(comparative more pure, superlative most pure)

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

Origin

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 hlÅ«tor, hluttor), Middle English skere (“pure, sheer, clear") (from Old English scÇ£re and Old Norse skÇ£r), Middle English schir (“clear, pure") (from Old English scÄ«r), Middle English smete, smeate (“pure, refined") (from Old English smÇ£te; compare Old English mÇ£re (“pure")).