Purgatory

How to spell purgatory

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce purgatory

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does purgatory mean?

1. nounA condition of prolonged suffering, tedium, or anxious waiting.

Purgatory in a sentence

• The four-hour delay at the airport felt like purgatory.

• Waiting for the test results put her in a state of purgatory for a week.

Where does purgatory come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin verb purgare, meaning 'to cleanse' or 'to make pure', which itself blends purus 'clean' with the root agere 'to drive or make'. Medieval church Latin built the noun purgatorium to name a place of spiritual cleansing, where souls were thought to be purified before entering heaven. English borrowed it through Old French purgatoire in the 1200s, settling on the modern spelling that keeps the cleansing root purg- visible. The same purgare lies behind everyday relatives such as 'purge' and 'expurgate', which is a useful memory hook: the word starts with purg, just like purge. By the later Middle Ages the term had also softened into a figurative one, describing any drawn-out state of misery or waiting, and that everyday sense is the one most adults reach for today.

How the word is built

• purg- (from Latin purgare: to cleanse, purify)
• -atory (suffix naming a place or state)