pure

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See also: puré, purè, and purê

English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English pure, pur, from Old French pur, from Latin pūrus (“clean, free from dirt or filth, unmixed, plain”), from Proto-Indo-European *pew-, *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[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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

  1. Free of flaws or imperfections; unsullied.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Thomas Macaulay
      Such was the origin of a friendship as warm and pure as any that ancient or modern history records.
  3. Free of foreign material or pollutants.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Isaac Watts
      A guinea is pure gold if it has in it no alloy.
  4. Free of immoral behavior or qualities; clean.
  5. Mere; that and that only.
    That idea is pure madness!
  6. (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      The [Isaac] Newton that emerges from the [unpublished] manuscripts is far from the popular image of a rational practitioner of cold and pure reason.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.
  7. (phonetics) Of a single, simple sound or tone; said of some vowels and the unaspirated consonants.
  8. (of sound) Without harmonics or overtones; not harsh or discordant.
Synonyms[edit]
Antonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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.
Translations to be checked

Adverb[edit]

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[edit]

Noun[edit]

pure (countable and uncountable, plural pures)

  1. (obsolete, colloquial, euphemistic, sometimes pluralized) Feces, especially dog feces gathered in pre-20th-century England for use in the tanning of leather.
    • 2001, Wendy Lawton, The Tinker's Daughter, ch. 8:
      Mary smelled the rancid odor of the tannery on the right side of the road. […]
      "What is that, Mary?" Jake asked.
      "'Tis a bag for collecting pure. That is going to be your job, Jake. You are to collect pure."
      "Pure? What is pure?"
      "Pure is another word for dung," Mary answered.

Verb[edit]

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[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

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[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /puːrə/, [ˈpʰuːɐ̯]

Adjective[edit]

pure

  1. complete
  2. (adverbial) completely
Inflection[edit]
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[edit]

From French purée (“puree”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /pyre/, [pʰyˈʁæ]

Noun[edit]

pure c (singular definite pureen, plural indefinite pureer)

  1. puree
Inflection[edit]
Declension of pure
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative pure pureen pureer pureerne
genitive pures pureens pureers pureernes

Etymology 3[edit]

See the etymology of the main entry.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /puːrə/, [ˈpʰuːɐ̯]

Adjective[edit]

pure

  1. definite of pur
  2. plural of pur

Esperanto[edit]

Adverb[edit]

pure

  1. purely

Finnish[edit]

Verb[edit]

pure

  1. inflection of purra:
    1. indicative present connegative
    2. second-person singular imperative present/present connegative

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

pure

  1. feminine singular of pur

Anagrams[edit]

German[edit]

Adjective[edit]

pure

  1. inflection of pur:
    1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
    2. strong nominative/accusative plural
    3. weak nominative all-gender singular
    4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Adjective[edit]

pure

  1. feminine plural of puro

Etymology 2[edit]

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

Adverb[edit]

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[edit]

pure

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

References[edit]

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

Anagrams[edit]

Latin[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

Adverb[edit]

pūrē (comparative pūrius, superlative pūrissimē)

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

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

pūre

  1. ablative singular of pūs

References[edit]

  • 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[1], 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[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French pur, from Latin pūrus.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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[edit]

References[edit]

Rapa Nui[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Polynesian *pule.

Noun[edit]

pure

  1. cowrie

Swedish[edit]

Adjective[edit]

pure

  1. absolute definite natural masculine form of pur.
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