purgation

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of cleansing someone or something of impurity, guilt, or defilement

   The ritual represented a spiritual purgation before the festival.

2. 2
   noun

   the act of clearing oneself or another person from an accusation or stigma

   The testimony was offered in purgation of his damaged reputation.

3. 3
   noun

   the evacuation of the bowels by means of a purgative, now chiefly a historical medical term

   The physician prescribed purgation according to the medical practice of the period.

From Middle English purgacioun, through Anglo-Norman and Old French from Latin purgatio, "a cleansing or justification," from purgare, "to cleanse or clear." Its religious, legal, and medical senses all preserve the central idea of removing an impurity, accusation, or bodily substance.

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