PURE

adjective (~r; ~st) Etymology: Middle English pur, from Anglo-French, from Latin purus; akin to Old High German fowen to sift, Sanskrit punāti he cleanses, Middle Irish úr fresh, new Date: 14th century 1. a. unmixed with any other matter , free from dust, dirt, or taint , spotless , stainless , free from harshness or roughness and being in tune, characterized by no appreciable alteration of articulation during utterance, 2. being thus and no other ; sheer , unmitigated , b. abstract , theoretical , a priori , not directed toward exposition of reality or solution of practical problems , being nonobjective and to be appraised on formal and technical qualities only , 3. a. free from what vitiates, weakens, or pollutes, containing nothing that does not properly belong, free from moral fault or guilt, marked by chastity ; continent , d. of ~ blood and unmixed ancestry, homozygous in and breeding true for one or more characters, ritually clean, having exactly the talents or skills needed for a particular role , see: chaste ~ness noun