n. The act of purifying; the act of freeing from impurities, or from whatever is heterogeneous or foreign: as, the purification of liquors or of metals.n. The act or process of cleansing ceremonially; a ritual observance by which the person or thing subjected to it is cleansed from a ceremonial uncleanness, as a symbol of a spiritual cleansing.n. A cleansing of the soul from guilt; the extinguishment of evil desire as something which does not belong to the children of God.n. In the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, the pouring of wine into the chalice to rinse it after communion, the wine being then drunk by the priest.