Purgatorian

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to the concept of purgatory or those believed to be undergoing purification there
2. Connected with the intermediate state after death where souls are purified before entering heaven
3. Describing anything associated with the spiritual cleansing process of souls in purgatory

Etymology: "Purgatorian" is a straightforward formation: English "purgatory" with the suffix "-ian" attached, the same ending found in words like "Christian" or "Lutheran," used to mean "belonging to" or "relating to" a thing or its followers. Purgatory itself came into English from Medieval Latin "purgatorium," a noun built on the Latin verb "purgare," meaning "to cleanse" or "to purify," which also gave English "purge" and "purgation." The idea behind the noun is the belief that souls who die in a state of grace but still carry some debt of sin are cleansed in an intermediate state before entering heaven. Adding "-ian" turns that noun into an adjective describing anything connected with this state or with souls believed to be undergoing purification there. Because the suffix is so productive, it can be attached to nearly any noun to create a descriptive term, and "purgatorian" follows that pattern exactly, with no separate history of its own beyond the two parts it is built from.