"to cause (liquid or granular substance) to flow or stream either out of a vessel or into one," c. 1300, of unknown origin. Not in Old English; perhaps from Old French (Flanders dialect) purer "to sift (grain), pour out (water)," from Latin purare "to purify," from purus "pure" (see pure). Replaced Old English geotan. Intransitive sense of "to flow, issue forth in a stream" is from 1530s. Related: Poured; pouring; pourable. As a noun from 1790, "a pouring stream."