Part 676

And Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, . . . and purified the altar.

Lev. viii. 15.

Purify both yourselves and your captives.

Num. xxxi. 19.

(c) To free from improprieties or barbarisms; as, to purify a language. Sprat.

Pu"ri*fy, v. i. To grow or become pure or clear.

||Pu"rim (?), n. [Heb. pr, pl. prm, a lot.] A Jewish festival, called ||also the Feast of Lots, instituted to commemorate the deliverance of ||the Jews from the machinations of Haman. Esther ix. 26.

Pur"ism (?), n. [Cf. F. purisme.] Rigid purity; the quality of being affectedly pure or nice, especially in the choice of language; over-solicitude as to purity. "His political purism." De Quincey.

The English language, however, . . . had even already become too thoroughly and essentially a mixed tongue for his doctrine of purism to be admitted to the letter.

Craik.

Pur"ist, n. [Cf. F. puriste.] 1. One who aims at excessive purity or nicety, esp. in the choice of language.

He . . . purified vocabulary with a scrupulosity unknown to any purist.

Macaulay.

2. One who maintains that the New Testament was written in pure Greek. M. Stuart.

{ Pu*ris"tic (?), Pu*ris"tic*al (?), } a. Of or pertaining to purists or purism.

Pu"ri*tan (?), n. [From Purity.] 1. (Eccl. Hist.) One who, in the time of Queen Elizabeth and the first two Stuarts, opposed traditional and formal usages, and advocated simpler forms of faith and worship than those established by law; -- originally, a term of reproach. The Puritans formed the bulk of the early population of New England.

The Puritans were afterward distinguished as Political Puritans, Doctrinal Puritans, and Puritans in Discipline. Hume.

2. One who is scrupulous and strict in his religious life; -- often used reproachfully or in contempt; one who has overstrict notions.

She would make a puritan of the devil.

Shak.

Pu"ri*tan, a. Of or pertaining to the Puritans; resembling, or characteristic of, the Puritans.

{ Pu`ri*tan"ic (?), Pu`ri*tan"ic*al (?), } a. 1. Of or pertaining to the Puritans, or to their doctrines and practice.

2. Precise in observance of legal or religious requirements; strict; overscrupulous; rigid; -- often used by way of reproach or contempt.

Paritanical circles, from which plays and novels were strictly excluded.

Macaulay.

He had all the puritanic traits, both good and evil.

Hawthorne.

Pu`ri*tan"ic*al*ly, adv. In a puritanical manner.