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purlieu

 - 2 dictionary results

pur⋅lieu

[pur-loo, purl-yoo]
–noun
1. purlieus, environs or neighborhood.
2. a place where one may range at large; confines or bounds.
3. a person's haunt or resort.
4. an outlying district or region, as of a town or city.
5. a piece of land on the edge of a forest, originally land that, after having been included in a royal forest, was restored to private ownership, though still subject, in some respects, to the operation of the forest laws.

Origin:
1475–85; alter. (simulating F lieu place) of earlier parlewe, parley, paraley purlieu of a forest < AF purale(e) a going through, equiv. to pur (< L prō for, pro 1 , confused with per through) + aller (see alley )
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To purlieu
pur·lieu   (pûrl'yōō, pûr'lōō)   
n.  
  1. An outlying or neighboring area.

  2. purlieus Outskirts; the environs.

  3. A place that one frequents.


[Middle English purlewe, piece of land on the edge of a forest, probably alteration (influenced by Old French lieu, place) of porale, purale, royal perambulation, from Old French porale, from poraler, to traverse : por-, forth (from Latin prō-; see pro-1) + aler, aller, to go; see alley1.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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