purple

American  

[pur-puhl] / ˈpɜr pəl /

noun

1. any color having components of both red and blue, such as lavender, especially one deep in tone.

2. cloth or clothing of this hue, especially as formerly worn distinctively by persons of imperial, royal, or other high rank.

3. the rank or office of a cardinal.

4. the office of a bishop.

5. imperial, regal, or princely rank or position.

6. deep red; crimson.

7. any of several nymphalid butterflies, as Basilarchia astyanax red-spotted purple, having blackish wings spotted with red, or Basilarchia arthemis banded purple, or white admiral, having brown wings banded with white.

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adjective

purpler, purplest

1. of the color purple.

2. imperial, regal, or princely.

3. brilliant or showy.

4. full of exaggerated literary devices and effects; marked by excessively ornate rhetoric.

   a purple passage in a novel.

5. profane or shocking, as language.

6. relating to or noting political or ideological diversity.

   purple politics; ideologically purple areas of the country.

verb (used with or without object)

purpled, purpling

1. to make or become purple.

idioms

1. born in / to the purple, of royal or exalted birth.

   Those born to the purple are destined to live in the public eye.

purple British  

/ ˈpɜːpəl /

noun

1. any of various colours with a hue lying between red and blue and often highly saturated; a nonspectral colour

2. a dye or pigment producing such a colour

3. cloth of this colour, often used to symbolize royalty or nobility

4. high rank; nobility

5. 1. the official robe of a cardinal

   2. the rank, office, or authority of a cardinal as signified by this

6. bishops collectively

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adjective

1. of the colour purple

2. (of writing) excessively elaborate or full of imagery

   purple prose

3. noble or royal

Other Word Forms

• purpleness noun
• purplish adjective
• purply adjective

Etymology

Origin of purple

First recorded before 1000; Middle English purpel (noun and adjective), Old English purple (adjective), variant of purpure, from Latin purpura “kind of shellfish yielding purple dye, the dye, cloth so dyed,” from Greek porphýra; purpure, porphyry

Example Sentences

This was the place where families could raise their children in peace under the deodar cedars and watch the San Gabriels fade to a distinct purple as the sun set.

From Los Angeles Times

Aurora appear as bright, swirling beacons of light that range in colour from red to purple and green to blue.

From BBC

"Her favorite colors, without a doubt, I would say are purple and burgundy," the 63-year-old pattern-maker and tailor told AFP amid her sewing machines and a mannequin on which she assembles the presidential wardrobe.

From Barron's

Through Elmer, we considered the white of snowmen and the purple of scarves; the pink of strawberry ice lollies and the red of sunsets.

From The Wall Street Journal

In 2026, there is a good chance that the vivid purples, reds and greens of the Northern Lights will be visible in skies across the UK.

From BBC

Related Words

• color
• lavender
• lilac
• mauve
• periwinkle
• plum
• violet