purple
See also: Purple
English
Etymology
From Middle English purple, purpel, purpur, from Old English purple, purpuren (“purple”), taken from Latin purpura (“purple dye, shellfish”), from Ancient Greek πορφύρα (porphúra, “purple fish”), perhaps of Semitic origin. Cognate with Dutch purper (“purple”), German Purpur (“purple; crimson”), Gothic 𐍀𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍀𐌿𐍂𐌰 (paurpura, “purple”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈpɜː(ɹ).pəl/
- (General American) enPR: pûrpəl, IPA(key): /ˈpɝpəl/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)pəl
Noun
purple (plural purples)
- A colour/color that is a dark blend of red and blue; dark magenta.
- purple colour:
- (Can we date this quote?) John Milton
- Arraying with reflected purple and gold / The clouds that on his western throne attend.
- Cloth, or a garment, dyed a purple colour; especially, a purple robe, worn as an emblem of rank or authority; specifically, the purple robe or mantle worn by Ancient Roman emperors as the emblem of imperial dignity.
- to put on the imperial purple
- (Can we date this quote?) Douay Rheims Bible, Canticles VII. Vs. 5
- Thy head as Carmelus: and the haires of thy head as a Kings purple tyed to cundite pipes.
- (by extension) Imperial power, because the colour purple was worn by emperors and kings.
- (Can we date this quote?) Gibbon
- He was born in the purple.
- 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.29:
- The immediate successors of Augustus indulged in appalling cruelties towards senators and towards possible competitors for the purple.
- (Can we date this quote?) Gibbon
- Any of various species of mollusks from which Tyrian purple dye was obtained, especially the common dog whelk.
- The purple haze cultivar of cannabis in the kush family, either pure or mixed with others, or by extension any variety of smoked marijuana.
- 2005, Tipi Paul, Wanna Smoke?: The Adventures of a Storyteller, page 14
- "Sure, some purple Owlsley."
- 2010, Mark Arax, West of the West, page 221
- “Purple smoke is no joke. Especially when it is real purple. The smell, taste, and high is easily one of the best in the world. One bowl of some purple Kush, and I'm done for a couple of hours.
- 2011, Danielle Santiago, Allure of the Game, page 148
- She preferred to smoke some good purple, but getting high wasn't an option.
- 2005, Tipi Paul, Wanna Smoke?: The Adventures of a Storyteller, page 14
- (medicine) Purpura.
- Earcockle, a disease of wheat.
- Any of the species of large butterflies, usually marked with purple or blue, of the genus Basilarchia (formerly Limenitis).
- the banded purple
- A cardinalate.
Translations
colour
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a purple robe, worn as an emblem of rank or authority
Adjective
purple (comparative purpler or more purple, superlative purplest or most purple)
- Having a colour/color that is a dark blend of red and blue.
- 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 731476803:
- So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
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- (US politics) Not predominantly red or blue, but having a mixture of Democrat and Republican support, as in purple state, purple city.
- 2010, Hal K. Rothman, The Making of Modern Nevada, University of Nevada Press, →ISBN, page 162:
- In the end, Nevada remained the quintessential purple state. On the maps that television used to illustrate political trends, Republican states were red and Democratic blue. Nevada blended the colors. It had a bright blue core in the heart of Las Vegas, surrounded by a purple suburban belt. Most of the rest of the state was bright red, especially in the rural counties.
- 2010, Hal K. Rothman, The Making of Modern Nevada, University of Nevada Press, →ISBN, page 162:
- (in Netherlands and Belgium) Mixed between social democrats and liberals.
- Imperial; regal.
- (Can we date this quote?) Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Hide in the dust thy purple pride.
- (Can we date this quote?) Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Blood-red; bloody.
- (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare
- May such purple tears be alway shed.
- (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden
- I view a field of blood, / And Tiber rolling with a purple blood.
- (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare
- (of language) Extravagantly ornate, like purple prose.
- (motor racing, of a sector, lap, etc.) Completed in the fastest time so far in a given session.
Antonyms
- (having purple as its colour): nonpurple
Translations
colour
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Democratic/Republican support
Verb
purple (third-person singular simple present purples, present participle purpling, simple past and past participle purpled)
- (intransitive) To turn purple in colour.
- 1999, David Edelstein, In Nomine: Corporeal Player's Guide, Steve Jackson Games, →ISBN, page 8:
- The gang leader purpled and raised his gun.
- 1999, David Edelstein, In Nomine: Corporeal Player's Guide, Steve Jackson Games, →ISBN, page 8:
- (transitive) To dye purple.
- (transitive) To clothe in purple.
Derived terms
- American purple gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus)
- bepurple
- born in the purple
- purpureal
- French purple
- purple airway
- purple-backed sunbeam (Aglaeactis aliciae)
- purple-backed thornbill (Ramphomicron microrhynchum)
- purple-banded sunbird (Cinnyris bifasciatus)
- purple-bearded bee-eater, Celebes bee-eater (Meropogon forsteni)
- purple-bellied lory (Lorius hypoinochrous)
- purple bird
- purple-breasted cotinga (Cotinga cotinga)
- purple-breasted sunbird (Nectarinia purpureiventris)
- purple-capped fruit dove (Ptilinopus ponapensis)
- purple cochoa (Cochoa purpurea)
- purple copper ore
- purple-crested turaco (Tauraco porphyreolophus)
- purple-crowned fairy (Heliothryx barroti)
- purple-crowned fairy-wren (Malurus coronatus)
- purple finch (Haemorhous purpureus)
- purple gallinule (Porphyrio porphyrio)
- purple-gaped honeyeater (Lichenostomus cratitius)
- purple glossy starling (Lamprotornis purpureus)
- purple grackle
- purple-headed starling (Hylopsar purpureiceps)
- Purple Heart
- purple heron (Ardea purpurea)
- purple honeycreeper (Cyanerpes caeruleus)
- purple indigobird (Vidua purpurascens)
- purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
- Purpleman
- purple martin (Progne subis)
- purple-naped lory (Lorius domicella)
- purple-naped sunbird (Hypogramma hypogrammicum)
- purple needletail (Hirundapus celebensis)
- purple of Cassius
- purple of mollusca
- purple passage
- purple patch
- purple prose
- purple quartz
- purple roller (Eurystomus azureus)
- purple roller (Coracias naevius)
- purple-rumped sunbird (Leptocoma zeylonica)
- purple sandpiper (Calidris maritima)
- purple shell
- purple starling (Lamprotornis purpureus)
- purple state
- purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus)
- purple swamphen (Progne subis)
- purple-tailed imperial pigeon (Ducula rufigaster)
- purple-throated carib (Eulampis jugularis)
- purple-throated cotinga (Porphyrolaema porphyrolaema)
- purple-throated cuckooshrike (Campephaga quiscalina)
- purple-throated fruitcrow (Querula purpurata)
- purple-throated mountaingem (Lampornis calolaemus)
- purple-throated sunangel (Heliangelus viola)
- purple-throated sunbird (Leptocoma sperata)
- purple-throated woodstar (Calliphlox mitchellii)
- purple-winged ground dove (Claravis geoffroyi)
- purple-winged roller (Coracias temminckii)
- purple zone
- purpleheart (Peltogyne)
- royal purple
- Tyrian purple
- velvet-purple coronet (Boissonneaua jardini)
- visual purple
Middle English
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