purgation
5 synonyms and 1 antonym for purgation, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — The act of emptying the bowels, especially with medicine.
Synonyms
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun
The act of emptying the bowels, especially with medicine.
2. noun
The act of freeing someone from sin or guilt.
“An intriguing puzzle is set by the Lincoln register of Thomas Bek in which many of the commissions to receive purgations are followed by a space in which the report of the result was to be entered.”
Opposites
Etymology
Came into English via Middle English purgacioun, taken from Anglo-Norman purgacion, which itself came from Latin pūrgātiō; equivalent to purge + -ation.
Full origin of purgation →