 5 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
purple
adjective
1: of a color midway between red and blue [syn: {violet}, {purplish}]
2: excessively elaborate or showily expressed; "a writer of
empurpled literature"; "many purple passages"; "speech
embellished with classical quotations"; "an
over-embellished story of the fish that got away" [syn: {embellished},
{empurpled}, {over-embellished}]
3: belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler; "golden age of
imperial splendor"; "purple tyrant"; "regal attire";
"treated with royal acclaim"; "the royal carriage of a
stag's head" [syn: {imperial}, {majestic}, {regal}, {royal}]
noun
1: a chromatic color between red and blue [syn: {purpleness}, {empurpled}]
2: of imperial status; "he was born to the purple"
verb
1: become purple
2: color purple [syn: {empurple}, {purpurate}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Purple \Pur"ple\, noun; 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 ({Basilarchia
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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Purple \Pur"ple\, adjective
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}.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Purple \Pur"ple\, verb (used with an object) [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.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
119 Moby Thesaurus words for "purple":
Mars violet, Tyrian purple, adorned, amethyst, amethystine,
befrilled, blue, bombastic, broad, cap of dignity,
cap of maintenance, clematis, colored, coronet, crown, dahlia,
damson, decorated, diadem, dynastic, embellished, embroidered,
ermine, fancy, festooned, figurative, figured, florid, flowery,
fuchsia, grape, great seal, heliotrope, high-flown, hyacinth,
imperatorial, imperatorious, imperial, imperial purple, imperious,
kinglike, kingly, lavender, lilac, livid, lividity, lividness,
lush, luxuriant, magenta, majestic, mallow, mauve, monarchal,
monarchial, monarchic, monsignor, mulberry, off-color, orb, orchid,
ornate, overblown, overcharged, overloaded, pansy, pansy violet,
pansy-purple, plum, plum-colored, plum-purple, pompous,
pontiff purple, princelike, princely, privy seal, purple pall,
purpleness, purplescent, purpliness, purplish, purplishness,
purply, purpurate, purpure, purpureal, purpurean, purpureous,
queenlike, queenly, racy, raisin-colored, regal, regal purple,
regalia, robe of state, rod, rod of empire, royal, royal crown,
royal purple, salty, scepter, seal, shady, signet, solferino,
sovereign, spicy, stilted, suggestive, tiara, triple plume, turgid,
uraeus, violaceous, violet, wicked, wine purple
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