noun
purgāmen
Meaning
- What was annually swept
purgāmen, ĭnis, n. id..
I. What was annually swept or washed from the temple of Vesta, i. e. the dirt or filth swept out, the sweepings, offscourings, Ov. F. 6, 713 and 227; v. stercus.—
II. A means of purgation, purification, or expiation:
caedis, Ov. M. 11, 409: mali, id. F. 2, 35; 2, 23: mentis, id. M. 15, 327: aquae, i. e. baptism, Prud. στεφ. 6, 30.—III. Purity, clearness, Prud. Cath. 7, 80.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
(pūrgāmen īnis),n
purgo.—Only plur, a means of cleansing, expiation, atonement : mali, O.: caedis, O.: mentis, O.— That which is removed by cleansing, sweepings, offscourings : Vestae, from the temple of Vesta , O.