lustration

noun

lus·​tra·​tion (ˌ)ləˈstrāshən 

plural -s

1

a

: a purificatory ceremony performed as a preliminary to entering a holy place, as a means of removing bloodguiltiness, on the occasion of a birth, marriage, or death, or as a means of ceremonially cleansing a house, a city, army, or a whole people on some special occasion

lustration with water is a prominent feature in Babylonian cult

—W. L. Wardle

b

: an act or instance of cleansing especially by moral or spiritual purification

the lustration of penitents

—Lawrence Durrell

the Deluge as a type of the world's lustration

—F. W. Farrar

c

: an act of washing : ablution

had not lost the … habit of personal lustration

—D. W. Bone

2

archaic : a tour of inspection : survey

have made a last lustration of all my walks and haunts, and taken a long farewell

—Francis Jeffrey

Word History

Etymology

Latin lustration-, lustratio, from lustratus + -ion-, -io -ion

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Rhymes for lustration

• ablation
• bination
• carnation
• cassation
• castration
• causation
• centration
• cessation
• cetacean
• chelation
• citation
• collation