Deturpate

/dɪˈtɜrpeɪt/ verb

Definition

An extremely rare or possibly obsolete verb meaning to restore something from a degraded or disfigured state; to clean or purify.

Etymology

From Latin 'deturpatus' (past participle of 'deturpare', from 'de-' meaning 'down/away' + 'turpis' meaning 'ugly, base, shameful'). This word is virtually absent from modern English and may exist primarily in historical or philosophical texts.

Kelly Says

This word's root 'turpis' (ugly) is related to 'turpitude'—and imagining how to reverse ugliness or baseness in character was exactly the kind of moral challenge Renaissance philosophers loved to debate with precise Latin terminology.

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