impurity

Etymology

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

noun

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.
   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. 2013-06-01, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly)
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.