purgatio

Forms

pūrgātiō f (genitive pūrgātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin pūrgō (“to cleanse”) + -tiō.^[2][3] The origin of that verb, older ⟨pūrigō⟩, is disputed.^[1] The OLD derives it from pūrus (“clean”) with a verbal suffix ⟨-igō⟩.^[2] De Vaan, following Dunkel, argues that the lack of a long medial vowel points rather to the word for fire, Proto-Italic *pūr, Proto-Indo-European *péh₂-ur, so that the verb first meant “to lead the fire about” to purify.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it from Cato,^[4] who uses it of the purging of the bowels.^[2] In verse it occurs only in Terence and Venantius Fortunatus;^[5] in Terence it is an excuse that clears a person of blame (nescioquid peccati portat haec purgatio, “this excuse carries some wrongdoing with it”).^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the cleaning or clearing of something, such as the sewers in a letter of Trajan,^[2][6] and in Pliny the Elder a means of ritual purification.^[2] In medicine it is a purging of the body, the emptying of the bowels, menstruation, and the removal of blemishes.^[2][6] In rhetoric it is the clearing of an accused person by proving the charge groundless;^[2][7] Döderlein contrasts it with excusatio, which admits a fault but pleads innocent intent.^[2][7] Gellius uses it of clearing up mistakes.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it is purification and expiation,^[8] and in Medieval Latin judicial compurgation.^[9] English purgation (late 14th century) comes from it, partly through Old French.^[10]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of purging the bowels.^[2][4][3]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of an excuse that clears someone of blame.^[2][3]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of the body ridding itself of morbid matter.^[2][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder calls the laurel a purification after the killing of enemies.^[2][3]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of clearing up errors.^[2][3]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as purgation.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Cleaning, clearing (of dirt or obstructions).^[2][6]
2. A means of ritual purification.^[2]
3. (medicine) Purging of the body; emptying of the bowels; menstruation.^[2][6]
4. Clearing of blame, defence, exoneration.^[2][7]
5. The clearing up of mistakes.^[2]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Purification, expiation.^[8]
7. (Medieval Latin) Judicial compurgation.^[9]

Related words

• English purgation

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com