Etymologically
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purgatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [puːrˈɡaː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [purˈɡat.t͡si.o][1]

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]
  • 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