impurity
UK[ɪmˈpjʊərəti]US[ɪmˈpjʊrəti]
n
The state or quality of being impure; the presence of an unwanted substance that makes something less pure.
n
A substance that makes something else less pure.
Morpheme Breakdown
im
pur
ity
im
not
pur
pure
ity
state/quality
Etymology
The word impurity is built upon the core Latin adjective purus, meaning clean or unmixed. The negative prefix in- (which assimilates to im- before 'p') was attached to form impurus, meaning "not pure". Finally, the abstract noun-forming suffix -itas (evolving into English -ity) was added to create a term for the state or condition of being not pure. This logical construction moved from the concrete sense of a physical contaminant to also encompass abstract notions of moral or spiritual taint. The journey from the Proto-Indo-European root peu- ("to purify, to cleanse") to the modern concept of impurity clearly illustrates the negation of a fundamental quality of cleanliness or authenticity.
Analysis
Structure: im (not) + pur (pure) + ity (state/quality)
im: Latin origin, a prefix meaning "not" or "without".
pur: From Latin purus, meaning "clean, pure, unmixed".
ity: From Latin -itas, a suffix forming nouns indicating a state or condition.
Examples
The impurity in the water supply was traced to a chemical leak.
High-grade silicon must be manufactured with an extremely low level of impurity.
The novel explores the theme of moral impurity in a corrupt society.