Purple

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
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              Arraying with reflected purple and gold
              The clouds that on his western throne attend. --
                                                    Milton.
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     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.
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     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.
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              Thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of
              fine twined linen, and purple, and scarlet. --Ex.
                                                    xxvi. 1.
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     3. Hence: Imperial sovereignty; royal rank, dignity, or
        favor; loosely and colloquially, any exalted station;
        great wealth. "He was born in the purple." --Gibbon.
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     4. A cardinalate. See {Cardinal}.
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     5. (Zool.) 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}.
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     6. (Zool.) Any shell of the genus {Purpura}.
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     7. pl.(Med.) See {Purpura}.
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     8. pl. A disease of wheat. Same as {Earcockle}.
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     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.
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     {French purple}. (Chem.) Same as {Cudbear}.
  
     {Purple of Cassius}. See {Cassius}.
  
     {Purple of mollusca} (Zool.), 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.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
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           When morn
           Purples the east.                        --Milton.
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           Reclining soft in blissful bowers,
           Purpled sweet with springing flowers.    -- Fenton.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
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     2. Imperial; regal; -- so called from the color having been
        an emblem of imperial authority.
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              Hide in the dust thy purple pride.    --Shelley.
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     3. Blood-red; bloody.
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              May such purple tears be alway shed.  --Shak.
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              I view a field of blood,
              And Tiber rolling with a purple blood. --Dryden.
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     {Purple bird} (Zool.), the European purple gallinule. See
        under {Gallinule}.
  
     {Purple copper ore}. (Min.) See {Bornite}.
  
     {Purple grackle} (Zool.), the crow blackbird. See under
        {Crow}.
  
     {Purple martin}. See under {Martin}.
  
     {Purple sandpiper}. See under {Sandpiper}.
  
     {Purple shell}. See {Ianthina}.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  purple
       adj 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}]
       n 1: a chromatic color between red and blue [syn: {purpleness}, {empurpled}]
       2: of imperial status; "he was born to the purple"
       v 1: become purple
       2: color purple [syn: {empurple}, {purpurate}]

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