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puce

[pyoos]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR puce ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of a dark or brownish purple.

noun

a dark or brownish purple.

Origin of puce

1780–90; < French: literally, flea < Latin pūlic-, stem of pūlex

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for puce

rose, flaming, maroon, glowing, cardinal, crimson, coral, wine, fawn, ginger, tan, toast, amber, brick, nut, buff, coffee, drab, dust, bronze

Examples from the Web for puce

Historical Examples of puce

It serves for reds and pinks, and enters into the composition of puce and lilac.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines
Andrew Ure
He did not use a deep purple or a puce colour in the ornaments of his dress.
A History of Chinese Literature
Herbert A. Giles
They describe my heliotrope poplin as puce alpaca with a muslin frill!
Mr. Punch in Wig and Gown
Various
To make plum-color or puce, indigo is the dye, with a cochineal.
The International Monthly, Volume 5, No. 4, April, 1852
Various
But the case of the inhabitant of the puce dressing-gown was an exception to the rule.
Buried Alive: A Tale of These Days
Arnold Bennett

British Dictionary definitions for puce

puce

noun

a colour varying from deep red to dark purplish-brown
(as adjective)a puce carpet

Word Origin for puce

C18: shortened from French couleur puce flea colour, from Latin pūlex flea

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for puce

n.

"brownish-purple," 1787, from French puce "flea-color; flea," from Latin pucilem (nominative pulex) "flea," from PIE *plou- "flea" (cf. Sanskrit plusih, Greek psylla, Old Church Slavonic blucha, Lithuanian blusa, Armenian lu "flea"). That it could be generally recognized as a color seems a testimony to our ancestors' intimacy with vermin.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper