pure

See also: puré, purè, and purê

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English pure, pur, from Old French pur, from Latin pūrus (“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”)).

Pronunciation

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

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      The [Isaac] Newton that emerges from the [unpublished] manuscripts is far from the popular image of a rational practitioner of cold and pure reason.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
  • (free of flaws): see Thesaurus:pure
  • (free of foreign material): see Thesaurus:raw
  • (free of immoral behavior): innocent
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Adverb

pure (not comparable)

  1. (Liverpudlian) to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.
    You’re pure busy.
    • 1996, Trainspotting (film)
      I just get pure shy with the interview cats.
Translations

Verb

pure (third-person singular simple present pures, present participle puring, simple past and past participle pured)

  1. (golf) to hit (the ball) completely cleanly and accurately
    Tiger Woods pured his first drive straight down the middle of the fairway.

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.

Further reading

  • pure in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • pure in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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

See etymology on the main entry.

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

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ure

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

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 (comparative pūrius, superlative pūrissimē)

  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
  • Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (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)

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French pur, from Latin pūrus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /piu̯r/

Adjective

pure (comparative purer, superlative purest)

  1. pure, unadulterated, undiluted, untarnished
  2. entire, total, all
  3. perfect, wonderful, unflawed
  4. morally clean, pure, or upstanding
  5. chaste
  6. true, real, genuine, not counterfeit
  7. clear, obvious, simple

Descendants

References

Rapa Nui

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *pule.

Noun

pure

  1. cowrie

Swedish

Adjective

pure

  1. absolute definite natural masculine form of pur.
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