Etymologically
Log in

purgatorium

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word purgatorium

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
3rd century AD, Serenus Sammonicus
Ultimate origin
Latin pūrgō
From the same root
English purgatory ← purgatorium

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [puːr.ɡaːˈtoː.ri.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pur.ɡaˈtɔː.ri.um][1]

Forms

pūrgātōrium n (genitive pūrgātōriī or pūrgātōrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin pūrgātōrius (“cleansing, purgative”), its neuter used as a noun.[1][2] The adjective is formed on ⟨pūrgāt-⟩, the past participle stem of pūrgō (“to cleanse, purify”).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is the medical poem of Serenus Sammonicus, in the 3rd century AD, where it means a purgative, a cleansing remedy.[3] The Latin glossaries likewise explain it with catharticum.[4]

Semantic evolution

From a medicine that purges the body it came to mean, more generally, an act or means of cleansing.[1] In Christian Latin it became the name of purgatory, the place where the souls of the dead are cleansed of their sins before entering heaven.[5][3][6][2] Etymonline finds this sense in Saint Bernard in the early 12th century,[2] while Jeanneau reports Le Goff's view that the word became a noun for the place only around 1170.[7] Du Cange quotes a letter of Pope Innocent IV which says that the Greeks had no fixed name for the place of cleansing and orders that they too should call it Purgatorium, following the tradition of the Fathers.[8] Medieval Latin also used it for a place where clothes and other things were washed.[8]

Polish sources speak of the souls in purgatorium and interpret the furnace of the Book of Daniel as an image of it.[6] The word passed into most western European languages, among them purgatoire, purgatorio, purgatorio and English purgatory.[1]

Timeline

  • 3rd century AD – Serenus Sammonicus uses it for a purgative.[3]
  • early 12th century – Saint Bernard uses it for the place of cleansing after death.[2]
  • c. 1170 – According to Le Goff, it is established as a noun naming purgatory.[7]
  • c. 1200 – English borrows it, partly through Old French, as purgatorie.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A purgative, a cleansing remedy.[3][4]
  2. An act or means of cleansing.[1]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Purgatory, the place or state in which the souls of the dead are purified.[5][3][6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A washhouse, a place for washing clothes.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  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 Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  7. ^ a b Jeanneau, Gérard; Woitrain, Jean-Paul; Hassid, Jean-Claude (2017), Dictionnaire latin-français, online ed., prima-elementa.fr
  8. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Purgatorium.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/purgatorium. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·