purple Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a purple color or pigment
    purpleness.
  2. noun of imperial status
    • he was born to the purple
  3. verb become purple
  4. verb color purple
    empurple; purpurate.
  5. adjective satellite of a color intermediate between red and blue
    purplish; violet.
  6. adjective satellite excessively elaborate or showily expressed
    empurpled; over-embellished.
    • a writer of empurpled literature
    • many purple passages
    • an over-embellished story of the fish that got away
  7. adjective satellite belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler
    majestic; regal; royal; imperial.
    • golden age of imperial splendor
    • purple tyrant
    • regal attire
    • treated with royal acclaim
    • the royal carriage of a stag's head

WordNet

Pur"ple noun
Etymology
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.
Wordforms
plural Purples
Definitions
  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.
    ✍ 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. (Zoöl.) 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. (Zoöl.) Any shell of the genus Purpura.
  7. pl.(Med.) See Purpura.
  8. pl. A disease of wheat. Same as Earcockle. ✍ 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.
Pur"ple adjective
Definitions
  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.
Pur"ple transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Purpled ; present participle & verbal noun Purpling
Definitions
  1. 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 1913