purgatory JUST WRITTEN FOR YOU
/ˈpɜːɡətɹi/ · pur·ga·to·ry
noun
- In Catholic theology, the intermediate state after death where souls are purified before entering heaven. According to the doctrine, the departed spent a brief period in purgatory before ascending to heaven.
- Any situation in which one endures hardship or suffering as part of a process of improvement or redemption. The grueling apprenticeship felt like a purgatory, but it forged his skills.
adjective
- Tending to cleanse or purify; expiatory. The ceremony was purgatory in nature, designed to wash away the community's collective guilt.
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Did you know? Dante Alighieri’s second canticle of the Divine Comedy is titled ‘Purgatorio’, and it popularized the detailed literary image of purgatory in Western culture.