Definitions for purple
ˈpɜr pəlpur·ple

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. purple, purplenessnoun

   a purple color or pigment

2. purpleadjective

   of imperial status

   "he was born to the purple"

3. purple, violet, purplishadjective

   of a color intermediate between red and blue

4. empurpled, over-embellished, purpleadjective

   excessively elaborate or showily expressed

   "a writer of empurpled literature"; "many purple passages"; "an over-embellished story of the fish that got away"

5. imperial, majestic, purple, regal, royalverb

   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"

6. purpleverb

   become purple

7. purple, empurple, purpurateverb

   color purple

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. purplenoun

   The colour worn by an emperor or king; by extension, imperial power.

2. purplenoun

   Any of various species of mollusks from which Tyrian purple dye was obtained, especially the common dog whelk.

3. purplenoun

   the purple haze cultivar of cannabis in the kush family, either pure or mixed with others, or by extension any variety of smoked marijuana

4. purpleverb

   To turn purple in colour.

5. purpleadjective

   Having a colour/color that is a dark blend of red and blue.

6. purpleadjective

   Not predominantly red or blue, but having a mixture of Democrat and Republican support, as in purple state, purple city.

7. purpleadjective

   Mixed between social democrats and liberals.

8. Etymology: From purpel, from purple, purpure, from purpura, from πορφύρα, of Semitic origin.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. PURPLEadjective

   Etymology: pourpre, Fr. purpureus, Lat.

   1. Red tinctured with blue.

   The poop was beaten gold,
   Purple the sails, and so perfumed, that
   The winds were love-sick with e’m. William Shakespeare.

   You violets, that first appear,
   By your pure purple mantles known;
   What are you when the rose is blown? Henry Wotton.

   A small oval plate, cut off a flinty pebble, and polished, is prettily variegated with a pale grey, blue, yellow, and purple. John Woodward, on Fossils.

   2. In poetry, red.

   I view a field of blood,
   And Tyber rolling with a purple flood. Dryden.

   Their mangled limbs
   Crashing at once, death dyes the purple seas
   With gore. James Thomson, Summer.

2. To Purpleverb

   To make red; to colour with purple.

   Etymology: purpuro, Lat.

   Whilst your purpled hands do reak and smoak,
   Fulfil your pleasure. William Shakespeare, Julius Cæsar.

   Cruel and suddain, hast thou since
   Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence? John Donne.

   Though fall’n on evil days,
   In darkness, and with dangers compass’d round,
   And solitude! yet, not alone, while thou
   Visit’st my slumbers nightly; or when morn
   Purples the East. John Milton, Par. Lost, b. xxx.

   Throw hither all your quaint enamel’d eyes,
   That on the green turf such the honied show’rs,
   And purple all the ground with vernal flow’rs. John Milton.

   Aurora had but newly chas’d the night,
   And purpled o’er the sky with blushing light. Dryden.

   Not with more glories in th’ ethereal plain,
   The sun first rises o’er the purpled main. Alexander Pope.

   Reclining soft in blissful bow’rs,
   Purpled sweet with springing flow’rs. Elijah Fenton.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Purplenoun

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

2. Purplenoun

   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

3. Purplenoun

   hence: Imperial sovereignty; royal rank, dignity, or favor; loosely and colloquially, any exalted station; great wealth

4. Purplenoun

   a cardinalate. See Cardinal

5. Purplenoun

   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. Purplenoun

   any shell of the genus Purpura

7. Purplenoun

   see Purpura

8. Purplenoun

   a disease of wheat. Same as Earcockle

9. Purpleadjective

   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

10. Purpleadjective

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

11. Purpleadjective

    blood-red; bloody

12. Purpleverb

    to make purple; to dye of purple or deep red color; as, hands purpled with blood

13. 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.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Purple

   Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue. The Oxford English Dictionary describes it as a deep, rich shade between crimson and violet. In the ancient world, purple was the color worn by Roman Emperors and magistrates, and later by Roman Catholic bishops. Since that time, purple has been commonly associated with royalty and piety.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Purple

   pur′pl, n. a very dark-red colour formed by the mixture of blue and red: a purple dress or robe, originally worn only by royalty: a robe of honour: the dignity of a king or emperor: a cardinalate, so called from the red hat and robes worn by cardinals.—adj. red tinged with blue: blood-red: bloody.—v.t. to dye purple: to clothe with purple.—v.i. to become purple in colour.—n. Pur′ple-fish, a shellfish of genus Purpura.—adjs. Pur′ple-frost′y (Tenn.), purple with frost or cold; Pur′ple-hued (Shak.), having a purple hue.—n.pl. Pur′ples, petechiæ or spots of livid red on the body: a disease of wheat: an early purple-flowered orchid.—adj. Pur′ple-spiked, having purple spikes.—ns. Pur′ple-wood, -heart, the heartwood of Copaifera pubiflora, used for ramrods.—adj. Pur′plish, somewhat purple.—Purple emperor, one of the largest of British butterflies, and one of the most richly coloured.—Born in the purple, of princely rank or birth; Tyrian purple, a fine purple dye for which the people of ancient Tyre were celebrated. [O. Fr. porpre (Fr. pourpre)—L. purpura—Gr. porphyra, the purple-fish.]

Etymology and Origins(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Purple

   This dye, in which the people of Tyre excelled, was discovered in the following manner:--One day a favourite dog of Hercules of Tyre ate a species of fish known to the ancients by the name of purpura, and on returning to his master his lips were found to be tinged with the colour, which, after a few experiments, Hercules successfully imitated.

Matched Categories

1. • Chromatic Color
   • Discolor

British National Corpus

1. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'purple' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4541

2. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'purple' in Adjectives Frequency: #950

How to pronounce purple?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say purple in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of purple in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of purple in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of purple in a Sentence

1. Maya Rudolph:

   ' Purple Rain' hit me really hard.

2. Paul Bettany:

   There's one place on my body that I can scratch and that's my nose so anything else is impossible. Plus, my hands are purple so I get everything purple.

3. Mitch McConnell:

   Unless the nominee for president can carry purple states, he's not going to get elected.

4. Matthew Birong:

   To have this Purple Heart returned to us after so many years is incredibly special, this was a piece of who my grandfather truly was.

5. Jennifer Glass:

   The big question, and a topic of active scientific debate, is whether the purple bacteria living on the ancient Earth had the ability to protect themselves from UV radiation well enough to inhabit vast expanses of the land surface, like plants do on the modern Earth, the spectral signature of the pigment would be much stronger if the pigmented bacteria covered the land surface.

Popularity rank by frequency of use