To remove vulgar or common characteristics from something, making it more refined or elevated in status.
From Latin de- (remove) + vulgaris (common, of the masses) + -ize (make). The word emerged in the 18th-19th centuries as educated speakers sought to distance refined language from common usage.
This word captures a snobbish impulse in language itself—the idea that you can 'purify' something by removing what's common, which reveals how social hierarchies get baked into our vocabulary.
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