Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PU'RI-TY, n. [Fr. purité; L. puritas, from purus.]

1. Freedom from foreign admixture or heterogeneous matter; as, the purity of water, of wine, of spirt; the purity of drugs; the purity of metals.
2. Cleanness; freedom from foulness or dirt; as, the purity of a garment. The purety of a linen vesture. – Holyday.
3. Freedom from guilt or the defilement of sin; innocence; as, purity of heart or life.
4. Chastity; freedom from contamination by illicit sexual connection. – Shak.
5. Freedom from any sinister or improper views; as, the purity of motives or designs.
6. Freedom from foreign idioms, from barbarous or improper words or phrases; as, purity of style or language.