purfle 
Hue was furfld with peloure non purere In erthe. 
And coroned with a corone the kynge hath nu betere. 
Pirn Ploirman (('), III. 10. 
A goodly lady clad In Bcarlot red, 
I'tirlteJ with gold and pearle of rich assay. 
Spenser, K. Q., I. II. 18. 
After they have wuh'd the Body . . . they put it on a 
Flannel Shirt, which lias commonly a Sleeve pur/led about 
the Wrists. 
Quoted In Athton'i Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, 
(I. M. 
The unburnt end o' the very candle, Sirs, 
PurfleJ with paint so prettily round and round, 
He carried In such state last Peter's day. 
Brooming, Ring and Book, I. 211. 
And on his brows a purjled purple hood. 
Swinburne, St. Dorothy. 
(6) To edge with fur. (c) To line with f ur : as, a mantling 
purjkd and bordered valr. (d) In her., to decorate with 
rd mountings, such as the studs or bosses in armor, as 
the phrase "a leg in armor proper, purjled or." (e) 
In arch., to decorate richly, as with sculpture. 
To this chest (shrine] the goldsmith, whose work It al- 
ways was, gave an architectural form : it had Its flying but- 
tresses, its windows filled in with tracery, its pinnacles 
ribbed with crockets as light and thin and crispy as leaves 
upon a bough, and Its tall crest pur/led with knobs of 
sparkling Jewels to run along the ridge of its stueply- 
pitched roof. Rude, Church of our Fathers, III. i. 390. 
(/) In mol-inaking, to decorate (the edges of the body of 
an instrument) with a wavy inlay of valuable wood. 
2. To mark or draw in profile. 
She (the daughter of Dlbutades) used ordinarily to marke 
upon the wall the shadow of her lover's face by candle 
light, and to pour/ill the same afterward deeper, that so 
shee might enjoy his visage yet in his absence. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, xixv. 12. 
II. iti trans. To hem a border, 
purfle (per'fl), n. [Early mod. E. pitrfyll, pur- 
ful(a\sopurflew); <tE.purfyle,purfoyl,porfil, 
'porfyl ; from the verb.] A decorated or wrought 
border ; a border of embroidered work. 
Of preclos perle In porfyl pyste. 
Alliterative Poemt (ed. Morris), i. 216. 
He preijede Pernel hire porfl to leue, 
And kepen hit in hire cofre for catel at neode. 
Fieri Plowman (A), v. 26. 
Many a riche stone 
Was set on the jntrfat, out of doute, 
Of colcrs, sieves and traines round aboute. 
Flower and Lea/, 1. 146. 
Specifically, in her., a border of one of the furs : not com- 
mon, for a border purjte ermine means no more than a 
border ermine. An attempt has been made to discrimi- 
nate the number of rows of the bells of the fur by the 
terms purjled, counter-purjled, and vair, for one, two, and 
three rows. It is not usual. 
purflewt, Same as purfle. 
purfling (per'fling), n. [Verbal n. ot purfle, r.] 
An ornamental border, generally composed of 
ebony and maple or sycamore, inlaid in the 
edges of violins and similar instruments. 
purfly (per'fli ), a. [< purfle + -v 1 .] Wrinkled ; 
seamed : as, a large, purfly, flabby man. Car- 
lyle, in Froude. 
purgamentt (per'ga-ment), n. [= It. purtja- 
mento, < L. purgamentum, what is swept or 
washed off, offscourings, <. purgare, cleanse : see 
purge.'} 1. A cathartic; a purge. 2. That 
which is excreted from anything ; excretion. 
The humours . . . are commonly passed over in anato- 
mies as purgaments. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, II. 195. 
purgation (per-ga'shon), . [< ME. purgation, 
< OK. purgation, F. purgation = Pr. 8p. purga- 
tion = Pg. purgaqflo = It. purgazioue, < L. pur- 
gatio(n-), a cleansing, < purgare, pp. purgatus, 
cleanse: see purge.] 1. The act of purging; 
clearing, cleansing, or purifying by separating 
and carrying away impurities or whatever is 
extraneous or superfluous; purification; spe- 
cifically, evacuation of the intestines by purga- 
tives. 
Or that hane studied Fhlslcke so lunge that he or they 
can glue his Masters purse a Purgaeton, or his ('hist, 
shoppe, and Countiiighouse a strong vomit. 
Babeet Book (E. E. T. S.I. p. 241. 
Let the physician apply himself more to purgation than 
to alteration, because the offence Is In quantity. Bacon. 
We do not suppose the separation . . . finished before 
the purtfnli'in of the air began. 
f. Riirnet. Theory of the Earth. 
2. The act of cleansing from the imputation of 
guilt ; specifically, in old taw, the clearing of 
one's self from a crime of which one has been 
publicly suspected and accused. It was either 
canonical (that Is, prescribed by the canon law, the form 
whereof used In the spiritual court was that the person 
suspected took his oatii that he was clear of the facts ob- 
jected against him, and brought his honest neighbors with 
him to make oath that they believed he swore truly) or 
vulgar (that Is, by tire or water ordeal, or by combat). 
fkaordtal. 
she was always an honest, civil woman ; her neighbour* 
would have gone on her purgation a great way. 
lalimer, Mli Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1649. 
4854 
The Inquisitors had a discretion to allow the accused to 
make the canonical purgation by oath Instead of undergo- 
ing corporal torture, but the rule which allows this to be 
done at the same time discountenances It as fallacious. 
Kneyc. Brit., XXIII. 463. 
purgative (per'ga-tiv), n. and . [< F. purgn- 
tif=Pr.purgatiu = Sp. Pg. It. purgativo, < LL. 
pmrgaMttU, cleansing, cathartic, < L. purgare, 
pp. purgatus, cleanse : see purge.'} i. a. 1 . 
Having the power of cleansing; usually, hav- 
ing the power of evacuating the intestines; 
cathartic. 
Purging medicines . . . have their purgative virtue in 
a fine spirit. Bacon, Nat. Hist., 20. 
They had not yet analysed these purgative waters, and 
consequently "Epsom salts" were unknown, so that peo- 
ple, did they wish for them, mutt either go to Epsom or 
buy the water in London. 
Athlon, Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, II. 113. 
2. Having the property, as judicial torture in 
some cases, of invalidating the evidence against 
an accused person, when he, under torture, 
satisfactorily answered the questions of the 
judges. 
II. . A medicine that evacuates the intes- 
tines, producing more or less abundant and 
watery stools Cholagogue purgative, a purgative 
which increases the flow of bile into the intestine. Dras- 
tic purgative, a violent purgative. Hydragogue pur- 
gative, a purgative causing prof use watery stools. Lax- 
ative purgative, a gentle purgative. 
purgatively (per'ga-tiv-li), adv. In a purgative 
manner; cleansingly; cathartically. 
purgatorial (per-ga-to'ri-al), o. [< purgatory 
+ -a/.] Of or pertaining to purgatory ; expia- 
tory. 
The sculptured dead on each side seem to freeze, 
Emprison'd in black, purgatorial rails. 
Keat*, Eve of St. Agnes, ii. 
The idea of purgatorial suffering, which hardly seems 
to have entered the minds of the lower races, expands in 
immense vigour in the great Aryan religions of Asia. 
E. B. Tylor, Prim. Culture, II. 88. 
purgatorian (per-ga-to'ri-an), a. and . [< 
jiurgatory + -an.] I. a. Same as purgatorial. 
The delusions of purgatory, with all the apparitions of 
purgatorian ghosts. 
J. Mede, Apostacy of Latter Times (1641), p. 45. 
H. . A believer in purgatory. 
BosifM. We see In Scripture that Dives still retained an 
anxious concern about his brethren. 
Johnson. Why, sir, we must either suppose that passage 
to be metaphorical, or hold, with many divines and all 
Purgatoriaiu, that departed souls do not all at once ar- 
rive at the utmost perfection of which they are capable. 
Bomtell, Life of Johnson, Hi. 193. (Datia.) 
purgatorious (per-ga-to'ri-us), a. [< L. pur- 
gatorius, cleansing: see purgatory.} Having 
the nature of or connected with purgatory. 
I*urgatoriou and superstitious uses. 
Milton, Touching Hirelings. 
purgatory (per'ga-to-ri), a. and n. [< ME. 
purgatorge, purcaiorye, purcatorie, n., = F. pur- 
gatoire = Pr. ntirgatori, porguatori = Sp. Pg. 
tt. i>urgatorH>, < LL. pwgatorfiu, cleansing, pur- 
gative (Mlj. pttrgatorium, neut., a place of pur- 
gation, purgatory, also a wash-house, laundry), 
< L. purgare, pp'purgatus, cleanse : seepurge.} 
1. a. Tending to cleanse; cleansing; expiatory. 
This purgatory interval is not unfavourable to a faithless 
representative, who may be as good a canvasser as he was 
a bad governor. Burke, Rev. in France. 
II. n. ; pi. purgatories (-riz). 1. In the belief 
of Koman Catholics and others, a place of pur- 
gation in which the souls of those dying peni- 
tent are purified from venial sins, or undergo 
the temporal punishment which, after the guilt 
of mortal sin has been remitted, still remains to 
be endured by the sinner. Itis not considered as a 
place of probation; for the ultimate salvation of those in 
purgatory Is assured, and the Impenitent are not received 
into purgatory. The souls in purgatory are supposed, how- 
ever, to receive relief through the prayers of the faithful 
and through the sacrifice of the mass. The common be- 
lief In the Latin Church Is that the purgatorial suffering is 
by fire; the Greek Church, however, does not determine 
its nature. 
A robbere had remission rathere thanne the! alle, 
Withoute penaunce of purcatorie to haue paradis for euere. 
Picn Plowman (AX xi. 278. 
How many men have ben miserably afflicted by this 
fiction of purgatory .' Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 609. 
2. Any place or state of temporary suffering 
or oblivion. 
Any subject that was not to their palat they either con- 
demn'd In a prohibition, or had It straight into the new 
Purgatory of an Index. Milton, Areopagltlca, p. 10. 
3. A gorge or cleft between perpendicular or 
steeply inclined walls of rock. [New Eng.] 
It is nearly the same aa flume. (ued as a topographical 
word), except that localities called Jlumet in New England 
always have a stream of water running through them, 
which the purgatories have not. 
purge 
The best-known localities bearing the name of puryatu- 
riet are those at Sutton and (ireat Harrington, Mass., and 
there is one on the sea-shore at Newport, H. I. 
./. 1>. Whitney, Names and Places, p. 1HO. 
Purgatory hammer*, one of the ancient and prehistoric 
perforated axes found In Scotland. This implement was 
so named as being supposed to have been buried with Its 
owner in order that he might have the wherewithal "to 
thunder at the gates of Purgatory till the heavenly janitor 
appeared " (Wilson, Prehlst Ann. of Scotland, 1. 191). 
As we find the little flint arrow-head associated with 
Scottish folk-lore as the Elfin's bolt, so the stone hammer 
of the same period was adapted to the creed of the middle 
ages. The name by which it was popularly known in 
Scotland almost till the close of last century was that of 
the Purgatory Hammer. 
Wilson, Arch, and I'rehist. Ann. of Scotland, p. 18S. 
St. PatrlCk'8 Purgatory, a cnverti in an island In Lough 
Derg, county Donegal, Ireland, to which pilgrimages are 
made, where Christ is said to have appeared to St. Pat- 
rick and showed him a deep pit, telling him that whoever 
remained in it a day and a night should be purified from 
his sins and behold both the torments of the damned 
and the joys of the blessed. A person of the name of 
Owen is said to have done this in the above cavern, fer- 
merly also called Otcen't cave. 
He satte all heavie and glommyng, as if he had come 
lately from Troponfus' cave, or Saint Patrick's purgatory. 
Kramnus, Praise of Folie, slg. A. (Sforw.) 
purge (perj), f.; pret. and pp. purged, ppr. 
purging. [Early mod. E. also pourge ; < ME. 
purgen,<. OF. (and F.) pvrger = Pr. Sp. Pg. 
purgar = It. purgare, < L. purgare, make pure, 
cleanse, < punts, clean, pure, + agere, make, 
do.] I. traru. 1. To cleanse or purify by sep- 
arating and carrying off whatever is impure, 
heterogeneous, foreign, orsuperfluous; cleanse; 
clean, or clean out. 
Nowe purge- upp broke and diche. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. 8.), p. 190. 
The people doe eftsoones adde their owne industry to 
dense and purge them (the streets]. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 213. 
Nor have we yet quite purg'd the Christian Land ; 
Stillldols here, like Calves at Bethel, stand. 
Cowley, Death of Crashaw. 
Iliy chill persistent rain has purged our streets 
Of gossipry. Browning, King and Book, II. 177. 
2. To remove by some cleansing or purifying 
process or operation ; clearer wash a way: often 
followed by away and off. 
Purge atpay our sins, for thy name's sake. Ps. Ixxlx. 9. 
I am thy father's spirit, 
Dooni'd for a certain term to walk the night, 
And for the day confined to fast in fires, 
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature 
Are burntand purge.daway. Shak., Hamlet, i. 5. 13. 
The ethereal mould, 
Incapable of stain, would soon expel 
Her mischief, and purge n/the baser fire, 
Victorious. MUton, ]>. I,., 11. 141. 
National corruptions were to be purged by national ca- 
lamities. Goldnnith, Bolingbroke. 
3. To clear from moral defilement or guilt: in 
this and next sense often followed by of or from. 
My heart Is purged from gradglng hate. 
SAo*.,Rich. III., ii. 1. 9. 
4. To clear from accusation of a crime, as by or- 
deal, or from charge of contempt, as by oath 
showing that there was no wrong intent; free 
from taint or suspicion of crime. 
He (Richard III.] sent to the Queen, being still In Sanc- 
tuary, divers Messengers,who should first excuse and purge 
him of all Things formerly attempted and done against her. 
Baiter, Chronicles, p. 231. 
As usual, the first charge gave rise to a large number of 
informations. Thomas Mowbray, th earl-marslial, was 
unable to deny that he had some Inkling of the plot, and 
archbishop Arundcl had to purge himself from a like sus- 
picion. StuN*, Const. 11 tat., | 312. 
5. To clarify ; defecate, as liquors. 6. To op- 
erate on by or as by means of a cathartic. 
He purged him with salt water. Arbuthnot. 
7t. To void. 
The satirical rogue says . . . that old men have grey 
beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging 
thick amber and plum-tree gum. Shak., Hamlet, ii. 2. 200. 
8t. To trim. 
Care the ground well, dresse the vines, purge the tree), 
and alway haue memorie of the (loddesse Ceres. 
Gvetara, Letters (tr. by Uellowes. 1577X p. 78. 
Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgelh [In the re- 
vised version cleanseth] it, that it may bring forth more 
fruit. John IV. 2. 
II. intrans. 1. To become pure by clarifica- 
tion. 2. To take a purge; produce evacuations 
from the intestines by means of a cathartic. 
I'll purge, and leave sack, and live cleanly, as a nobleman 
should do. Shak., 1 Hen. IV., v. 4. 168. 
3. To be cleansed or purified by the escape of 
certain gases, as a lake or river. Seetitiri/ing, 2. 
purge (perj), n. [< purge, p.] 1. The act of 
purging; purgation. 
The preparative for the purge of paganism out of thr 
klngdoniiof Northumberland. Fuller. 
