- (usually Purgatory)
(in Roman Catholic teaching 天主教教義 a place or state in which the souls of dead people suffer for the bad things they did when they were living, so that they can become pure enough to go to heaven 煉獄 - (informal, humorous)
any place or state in which somebody suffers 受難的處所（或狀態）；懲戒所；折磨；磨難 Getting up at four every morning is sheer purgatory. 每天早上四點起床簡直是煉獄。
Word OriginMiddle English: from Anglo-Norman French purgatorie or medieval Latin purgatorium, neuter (used as a noun) of late Latin purgatorius ‘purifying’, from the verb purgare ‘purify’, from purus ‘pure’.