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Definition of purple - 8 dictionary results
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pur⋅ple

  [pur-puhl] noun, -pler, -plest, adjective, verb, -pled, -pling.
Use purple in a Sentence
–noun
1. any color having components of both red and blue, such as lavender, esp. one deep in tone.
2. cloth or clothing of this hue, esp. as formerly worn distinctively by persons of imperial, royal, or other high rank.
3. the rank or office of a cardinal.
4. the office of a bishop.
5. imperial, regal, or princely rank or position.
6. deep red; crimson.
7. any of several nymphalid butterflies, as Basilarchia astyanax (red-spotted purple), having blackish wings spotted with red, or Basilarchia arthemis (banded purple or white admiral), having brown wings banded with white.
–adjective
8. of the color purple.
9. imperial, regal, or princely.
10. brilliant or showy.
11. full of exaggerated literary devices and effects; marked by excessively ornate rhetoric: a purple passage in a novel.
12. profane or shocking, as language.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
13. to make or become purple.
—Idiom
14. born in or to the purple, of royal or exalted birth: Those born to the purple are destined to live in the public eye.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME purpel (n. and adj.), OE purple (adj.), var. of purpure < L purpura kind of shellfish yielding purple dye, the dye, cloth so dyed < Gk porphýra; cf. purpure, porphyry

Related forms:
pur⋅ple⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To purple
pur·ple   (pûr'pəl)   
n.  
  1. Any of a group of colors with a hue between that of violet and red.
  2. Cloth of a color between violet and red, formerly worn as a symbol of royalty or high office.
  3. Imperial power; high rank: born to the purple.
  4. Roman Catholic Church
    1. The rank or office of a cardinal.
    2. The rank or office of a bishop.
adj.  
  1. Of the color purple.
  2. Royal or imperial; regal.
  3. Elaborate and ornate: purple prose.
tr. & intr.v.   pur·pled, pur·pling, pur·ples
To make or become purple.

[Middle English, from Old English purpul, from purpure, purple garment, from Latin purpura, shellfish yielding purple dye, purple cloth, purple, from Greek porphurā.]
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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Purple

Pur"ple\, n.; pl. Purples. [OE. purpre, pourpre, OF. purpre, porpre, pourpre, F. pourpre, L. purpura purple fish, purple dye, fr. Gr. ? the purple fish, a shell from the purple dye was obtained, purple dye; cf. ? dark (said of the sea), purple, ? to grow dark (said of the sea), to be troubled; perh. akin to L. furere to rage, E. fury: cf. AS. purpure. Cf. Porphyry, Purpure.]

1. A color formed by, or resembling that formed by, a combination of the primary colors red and blue.

Arraying with reflected purple and gold The clouds that on his western throne attend. -- Milton.

Note: The ancient words which are translated purple are supposed to have been used for the color we call crimson. In the gradations of color as defined in art, purple is a mixture of red and blue. When red predominates it is called violet, and when blue predominates, hyacinth.

2. Cloth dyed a purple color, or a garment of such color; especially, a purple robe, worn as an emblem of rank or authority; specifically, the purple rode or mantle worn by Roman emperors as the emblem of imperial dignity; as, to put on the imperial purple.

Thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and purple, and scarlet. --Ex. xxvi. 1.

3. Hence: Imperial sovereignty; royal rank, dignity, or favor; loosely and colloquially, any exalted station; great wealth. "He was born in the purple." --Gibbon.

4. A cardinalate. See Cardinal.

5. (Zo["o]l.) Any species of large butterflies, usually marked with purple or blue, of the genus Basilarchia (formerly Limenitis) as, the banded purple (B. arthemis). See Illust. under Ursula.

6. (Zo["o]l.) Any shell of the genus Purpura.

7. pl.(Med.) See Purpura.

8. pl. A disease of wheat. Same as Earcockle.

Note: Purple is sometimes used in composition, esp. with participles forming words of obvious signification; as, purple-colored, purple-hued, purple-stained, purple-tinged, purple-tinted, and the like.

French purple. (Chem.) Same as Cudbear.

Purple of Cassius. See Cassius.

Purple of mollusca (Zo["o]l.), a coloring matter derived from certain mollusks, which dyes wool, etc., of a purple or crimson color, and is supposed to be the substance of the famous Tyrian dye. It is obtained from Ianthina, and from several species of Purpura, and Murex.

To be born in the purple, to be of princely birth; to be highborn.

Purple

Pur"ple\, a. 1. Exhibiting or possessing the color called purple, much esteemed for its richness and beauty; of a deep red, or red and blue color; as, a purple robe.

2. Imperial; regal; -- so called from the color having been an emblem of imperial authority.

Hide in the dust thy purple pride. --Shelley.

3. Blood-red; bloody.

May such purple tears be alway shed. --Shak.

I view a field of blood, And Tiber rolling with a purple blood. --Dryden.

Purple bird (Zo["o]l.), the European purple gallinule. See under Gallinule.

Purple copper ore. (Min.) See Bornite.

Purple grackle (Zo["o]l.), the crow blackbird. See under Crow.

Purple martin. See under Martin.

Purple sandpiper. See under Sandpiper.

Purple shell. See Ianthina.

Purple

Pur"ple\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Purpled; p. pr. & vb. n. Purpling.] To make purple; to dye of purple or deep red color; as, hands purpled with blood.

When morn Purples the east. --Milton.

Reclining soft in blissful bowers, Purpled sweet with springing flowers. -- Fenton.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : purple
Spanish: púrpura, morado,
German: purpurn,
Japanese: 紫色
More Translations »

purple 
O.E. purpul, dissimilation (first recorded in Northumbrian, in Lindisfarne gospel) from purpure "purple garment," purpuren "purple," from L. purpura "purple-dyed cloak, purple dye," also "shellfish from which purple was made," from Gk. porphyra (see porphyry), of Semitic origin, originally the name for the shellfish (murex) from which it was obtained. Tyrian purple, produced around Tyre, was prized as dye for royal garments. As a color name, attested from 1398. Also the color of mourning or penitence (especially in royalty or clergy). Rhetorical for "splendid, gaudy" (of prose) from 1598. Purpur continued as a parallel form until 15c., and through 19c. in heraldry. Purple Heart, U.S. decoration for service members wounded in combat, instituted 1932; originally a cloth decoration begun by George Washington in 1782. Hendrix' Purple Haze (1967) is slang for "LSD."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: 1pur·ple
Pronunciation: 'p&r-p&l
Function: adjective
Inflected Forms: pur·pler /-p(&-)l&r/;pur·plest /-p(&-)l&st/
: of the color purple

Main Entry: 2purple
Function: noun
1 : any of various colors that fall about midway between red and blue in hue
2 : a pigment ordye that colors purple —see VISUAL PURPLE
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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