impure

Etymology

From Middle French impur, from Latin impūrus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpjʊə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ)

Adjective

impure (comparative more impure, superlative most impure)

1. Not pure
   1. Containing undesired intermixtures

      The impure gemstone was not good enough to be made into a necklace, so it was thrown out.

   2. Unhallowed; defiled by something unholy, either physically by an objectionable substance, or morally by guilt or sin
   3. Unchaste; obscene (not according to or not abiding by some system of sexual morality)

      He was thinking impure thoughts involving a girl from school.

      • 2012, Frederick Ramsay, The Eighth Veil: A Jerusalem Mystery:

        “No one would marry her if she was impure, don't you see?” “Impure? Surely if a woman is forcibly deprived of her virginity, she can't be thought of as impure.”

Verb

impure (third-person singular simple present impures, present participle impuring, simple past and past participle impured)

1. (transitive, obsolete) to defile; to pollute

References

• “impure”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “impure”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• rumpie, umpire, Umpire

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pyʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -yʁ

Adjective

impure

1. feminine singular of impur

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /imˈpu.re/
• Rhymes: -ure
• Hyphenation: im‧pù‧re

Adjective

impure

1. feminine plural of impuro

Pronunciation

• impūrē: (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /imˈpuː.reː/, [ɪmˈpuːreː]
• impūrē: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /imˈpu.re/, [imˈpuːre]
• impūre: (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /imˈpuː.re/, [ɪmˈpuːrɛ]
• impūre: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /imˈpu.re/, [imˈpuːre]

Etymology 1

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

References

• “impure”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “impure”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• impure in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.