Purging

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of eliminating something undesirable or harmful
2. The act of clearing out or removing objectionable material
3. The action of getting rid of elements believed to be harmful or unwanted from a group or system

Etymology: "Purging" is the present participle and gerund of "purge," so its history is essentially that of the verb it comes from. The verb "purge" entered English from Old French "purgier," which itself came from the Latin "purgare," meaning to cleanse or make clean, built from "purus," pure, and "agere," to drive or do. The original sense was literal cleansing: making something physically clean, and later also clearing the body of waste through medicine, which is why the word once meant a laxative or purgative. The modern sense of removing unwanted people or things from a group grew out of that idea of cleansing. The "-ing" ending simply turns the verb into a participle or verbal noun, so "purging" in its current use carries the same notion of thorough clearing-out that the Latin root gave the verb.

Synonyms: cleansing, removing, eliminating, expelling, clearing

Antonyms: contaminating, polluting, tainting, soiling, filthing