purgo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpuːr.ɡoː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpur.ɡo]^[1]

Forms

pūrgō (present infinitive pūrgāre, perfect active pūrgāvī, supine pūrgātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from older ⟨pūrigō⟩, still in Plautus and Varro, from pūrus “pure” with the suffix -igō, as in fūmigō from fūmus.^[2][3][1] Lewis and Short take it as a contraction of ⟨pūrum agō⟩ “to make pure”.^[4] De Vaan instead derives it from a Proto-Italic *pūr “fire” and agō “to do”, first meaning “to lead the fire about”, and Gregory Nagy compares Umbrian ahtimem in a fire ritual.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, with the form pūrigō, and Cato, of cleaning and of medical purging.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to clean, free from dirt, refine metals, as Cato's olives cleaned of leaves, of water and sky to clear, and to clear a space of weeds or debris, or of pests and undesirable persons.^[2][4][6] It meant to husk, gut fish, stone fruit, and in medicine to purge the body, as in Cato.^[2] It meant to purify ceremonially, as in Tibullus, to free from troubles, as in Lucretius, and in Plautus to clear oneself of an offence, apologize, atone.^[2] From Cicero it meant to exonerate, justify, excuse, and to refute an accusation.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to purify, cleanse.^[7] Through Old French purgier it gave English purge about 1300, first “to clear of a charge”, and Medieval Latin purgātōrium gave English purgatory.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses pūrigō of excusing oneself.^[2][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of cleaning and of purging.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of exonerating.^[2][5]
• c. 1300 – English purge is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To clean, cleanse; to refine.^[2]
2. To clear a space; to rid of pests.^[2]
3. To husk; to gut; to stone fruit.^[2]
4. (medicine) To purge.^[2]
5. To purify ritually.^[2]
6. To free from troubles.^[2]
7. To clear oneself, apologize; to atone for.^[2]
8. To exonerate; to justify, excuse.^[2]

Word family

• circumpūrgō
• compūrgō
• dēpurgō
• expūrgō
• interpurgo
• perpūrgō
• praepurgo
• prōpūrgō
• purgābilis
• purgāmen
• pūrgāmentum
• pūrgātiō

Related words

• pūrus
• English purge
• English purgatory

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com