Etymologically
Log in

puro

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:52. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpuː.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpuː.ro][1]

Forms

pūrō (present infinitive pūrāre, perfect active pūrāvī, supine pūrātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin pūrus (“clean, pure”) + -ō;[2][1] the OLD compares impūrātus (“filthy”).[2] The adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *pūro- (“pure”) and Proto-Indo-European *ph₂ú-ro- (“clear, cleansed”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Festus (second half of the 2nd century AD), under the word prophetae, uses it for purifying sacred things with religious rites;[4][5] Lewis and Short call it very rare and perhaps found only there.[4]

Semantic evolution

The OLD defines it as making ceremonially clean,[2] and Wiktionary marks it as rare.[1]

Etymonline suggests that English pour, whose origin it calls unknown, may come from it through an Old French dialect verb purer, “to sift grain, pour out water”.[6]

Timeline

  • 2nd half of the 2nd century AD – Festus uses it of purifying sacred things.[4][5]
  • c. 1300 – English pour is first recorded, perhaps from this verb through Old French.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To purify with religious rites, make ceremonially clean.[2][4]

Usage notes

A second pūrō, “to suppurate, discharge pus”, formed from pūs, appears in Marcellus Empiricus.[7][8] The TLL derives it from pūs, unless it is a back-formation from suppūrō, which is found from Cato on.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften