Cleansing

How to spell cleansing

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce cleansing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does cleansing mean?

1. adjectiveHaving the effect of removing dirt, impurities, or unwanted matter.
2. nounThe act or process of making something clean or pure.

Cleansing in a sentence

• adjective

  She applied a gentle cleansing lotion to her face each morning.

• noun

  The nurse explained that thorough cleansing of the wound prevents infection.

• adjective

  The spa offered a deep cleansing facial as part of the package.

• noun

  A regular cleansing of the filters keeps the system running efficiently.

Where does cleansing come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English verb clǣnsian, which meant 'to make clean' or 'to purify', built directly on the adjective clǣne, the ancestor of our modern 'clean'. That adjective came from a Germanic root referring to something pure, clear, or unmixed, so the earliest cleansing was as much about moral and ritual purity as about scrubbing away dirt. The verb kept its religious flavour for centuries, used for purging sin or purifying a temple, before it broadened into the everyday senses of washing skin, soil, or wounds. The spelling trap lives in that ancient root: although we say the first syllable as a short 'e' sound, the 'ea' was preserved from the older 'clǣne', so it is written 'clean' even though it does not rhyme with the modern adjective. Adding the -ing suffix simply turns the long-standing verb into its participle and noun forms while keeping every letter of the deceptive 'cleans-' stem in place.

How the word is built

• cleanse (from Old English clǣnsian: to make clean)
• -ing (forming a present participle, gerund, or descriptive adjective)