Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “impure” come from?

Impure comes from Middle French impur, from Latin impurus, composed of the Latin prefix in- (from Latin in, from Proto-Indo-European ne) and Latin purus meaning pure.

impure (English): Not pure; to defile; to pollute

Definitions

  1. Not pure; to defile; to pollute

Ancestry of “impure”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchimpur—
2Latinimpurusunclean, filthy, foul, dirty; impure, defiled,...
3Latinīn-—
4Latinîn—
5Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
6Proto-Italicenin
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “impure”

  • impurity
  • impurely
  • impurify
  • impureness
  • impuration
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →