impurity

From impure +‎ -ity. From Middle French impurité, from Latin impuritas.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpjɝɪti/, /ɪmˈpjuɹɪti/

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• Audio (US):

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impurity (countable and uncountable, plural impurities)

1. The condition of being impure; because of contamination, pollution, adulteration or insufficient purification.

   Even animals in the Jewish system cause impurity only when they are dead.

2. A component or additive that renders something else impure.

   The impurities in the iron ore made extraction of the iron very difficult.

   • 2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist‎^[1], volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly):

     An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.

3. A state of immorality or sin; especially the weakness of the flesh: inchastity.

   With his cheating, lying and stealing, he epitomised the impurity of humanity.

• impureness

• purity