I find the word, ‘purger’ in a popular English-Japanese dictionary (Kenkyusha's Readers English Japanese Dictionary) as a derivative from 'purge,' without definition. I took it for those who purge someone who is harmful or undesired to an organization or country, though it can mean 'pulifier'in correct sense. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
If purger means someone who purges an unacceptable person, how do you call the target of ‘purger’ other than ‘the purged’ which I can think of?
Like ‘persecutee’ as the target of ‘persecutor’, which I find in the same dictionary, can I say ‘purgee’ to this effect?
Best Answer
You should consider the noun purged, but before you do, also consider the Great Purge, which is described as
This involved the repression or prosecution of people considered counter-revolutionaries and enemies of the people by the leadership of the Soviet Union.
So the word repressed may suffice, but it doesn't have the same sense as purged, where a purge is
You obviously also considered how the verb persecute works here, but even persecute does not carry the full meaning of being removed as purge does. (Otherwise persecuted rather than persecutee would be the right form of the word.)
Using the word purged as a noun is useful if you are describing a number of people (The purged were sent to the Gulags). But when describing an individual, it doesn't work. (He was one of the purged. or simply He was purged.) Repressed and persecuted would be used in a similar way.
Let's consider your own example of persecutee or purgee. While this form finds its way into common discourse, it still sounds rather tortured and/or legalistic, and in many cases, as I described above, a more natural sounding form already exists.