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perpurgo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word perpurgo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin purgō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin purgo
Latin perpurgo
From the same root
Latin expurgo ← purgo
Latin purgamen ← purgo
Latin purgamentum ← purgo
Latin purgatio ← purgo
Latin repurgo ← purgo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛrˈpuːr.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [perˈpur.ɡo][1]

Forms

perpūrgō (present infinitive perpūrgāre, perfect active perpūrgāvī, supine perpūrgātum); first conjugation[1] Plautus has the older form perpūrigō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- + pūrgō (“to clean”).[2][4][1] That verb was earlier ⟨pūrigō⟩; following Dunkel, de Vaan takes it to contain Proto-Italic *pūr “fire” (from Proto-Indo-European *péh₂-ur) rather than pūrus (“clean”), with the original sense “to lead the fire about” to purify something.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus, Cato and Cicero on.[4][5] In the Miles Gloriosus two characters promise to listen with ears well cleaned, perpūrigātīs auribus.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In medicine it is used of purging the bowels, from Cato on, and of freeing the body of harmful humours, in Celsus.[2] Cicero uses it reflexively,[3] and figuratively of a topic already dealt with thoroughly by earlier speakers in a trial.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of cleansed ears.[2][6]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of purging the bowels.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a topic dealt with once and for all.[2][6]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of purging by bloodletting.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To cleanse or purify thoroughly.[2][3]
  2. (medicine) To purge (the bowels) well; to free (the body) of harmful humours.[2]
  3. To deal with (a matter or topic) once and for all.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Perpurgo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/perpurgo. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·