impure

English

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.”

Synonyms

• imperfect, tainted

Antonyms

• pure

Derived terms

• impure name
• impure s
• pure-impure

Related terms

• impuration
• impurely
• impureness
• impurify
• impurity

Translations

not pure

Armenian: պիղծ (hy) (piġc) Old Armenian: պիղծ (piłc) Asturian: impuru Belarusian: нячы́сты (njačýsty) Bulgarian: нечи́ст (bg) (nečíst), с при́мес (s prímes) Catalan: impur (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 不純 / 不纯 (bù chún) Czech: nečistý Dutch: onzuiver (nl) Esperanto: malpura Finnish: epäpuhdas (fi) French: impur (fr) m Galician: impuro German: unrein (de) Hindi: अशुद्ध (hi) (aśuddh) Hungarian: szennyezett (hu) Interlingua: impur Irish: neamhghlan Italian: impuro (it) m Japanese: 不潔な (ja) (ふけつな, fuketsu na) Korean: 불결하다 (ko) (bulgyeolhada) Latin: impūrus Maori: whaipara, paruparu Old English: unsȳfre Persian: (please verify) ناپاز (nâpâz) Polish: nieczysty (pl) Portuguese: impuro (pt) Russian: нечи́стый (ru) (nečístyj), с при́месью (s prímesʹju) Sanskrit: अशुद्ध (sa) (aśuddha) Spanish: impuro (es) Swedish: oren (sv) Tagalog: ditagnas Ukrainian: нечи́стий (nečýstyj)

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

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “impure”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “impure”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• rumpie, umpire, Umpire

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pyʁ/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -yʁ

Adjective

impure

1. feminine singular of impur

Italian

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

impure

1. feminine plural of impuro

Latin

Pronunciation

• impūrē: (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪmˈpuː.reː]
• impūrē: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [imˈpuː.re]
• impūre: (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪmˈpuː.rɛ]
• impūre: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [imˈpuː.re]

Etymology 1

Adverb

impūrē (comparative impūrius, superlative impūrissimē)

1. basely, shamefully, infamously
2. impurely

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

impūre

1. vocative masculine singular of impūrus

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.