Where does “purgatory” come from?
Purgatory derives from Latin purgatorium, from the adjective purgatorius, from the verb purgo meaning "to cleanse," which combines Latin ago "to drive" with Proto-Indo-European h₂eǵ- meaning "to drive or move."
purgatory (English): Alternative letter-case form of Purgatory; Any...
Definitions
- Alternative letter-case form of Purgatory; Any...
Ancestry of “purgatory”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | purgatorie | Purgatory place of cleansing before entry to Heaven |
| 2 | Old French | purgatore | — |
| 3 | Latin | pūrgātōrium | a purgative |
| 4 | Latin | purgātōrius | of or related to making clean, purificatory |
| 5 | Latin | -tōrius | ory |
| 6 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |