purple

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English[edit]

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Various shades of purple

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English purpel, purpur, from Old English purple, purpuren (“purple”), taken from Latin purpura (“purple dye, shellfish”), from Ancient Greek πορφύρα (porphúra, “purple fish”), of Semitic origin. Cognate with Dutch purper (“purple”), German purpur (“purple; crimson”), Gothic 𐍀𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍀𐌿𐍂𐌰 (paurpura, “purple”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

purple (plural purples)

  1. A colour/color that is a dark blend of red and blue; dark magenta.
    purple colour:    
    • Milton
      Arraying with reflected purple and gold / The clouds that on his western throne attend.
  2. 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
    • 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.
  3. (by extension) Imperial power, because the colour purple was worn by emperors and kings.
    • 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.
  4. Any of various species of mollusks from which Tyrian purple dye was obtained, especially the common dog whelk.
  5. 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.
  6. (medicine) Purpura.
  7. Earcockle, a disease of wheat.
  8. Any of the species of large butterflies, usually marked with purple or blue, of the genus Basilarchia (formerly Limenitis).
    the banded purple
  9. A cardinalate.

Translations[edit]

Adjective[edit]

purple (comparative purpler or more purple, superlative purplest or most purple)

  1. Having a colour/color that is a dark blend of red and blue.
    • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 29686887 , chapter IV:
      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.
  2. (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 978-0-87417-826-5, 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.
  3. (in Netherlands and Belgium) Mixed between social democrats and liberals.
  4. Imperial; regal.
  5. Blood-red; bloody.
    • William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)
      May such purple tears be alway shed.
    • John Dryden (1631-1700)
      I view a field of blood, / And Tiber rolling with a purple blood.
  6. (of language) Extravagantly ornate, like purple prose.

Antonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

purple (third-person singular simple present purples, present participle purpling, simple past and past participle purpled)

  1. (intransitive) To turn purple in colour.
    • 1999, David Edelstein, In Nomine: Corporeal Player's Guide, Steve Jackson Games, ISBN 1-55634-389-2, page 8:
      The gang leader purpled and raised his gun.

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

Colors in English · colors, colours (layout · text)
     red      green      yellow      cream      white
     crimson      magenta      teal      lime      pink
     indigo      blue      orange      gray, grey      violet
     black      purple      brown      azure, sky blue      cyan

Anagrams[edit]

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