¹purple

adjective pur·ple \ˈpər-pəl\

: of the color purple

: using many fancy words

pur·pler \-p(ə-)lər\ pur·plest \-p(ə-)ləst\

Full Definition of PURPLE

: regal, imperial

: of the color purple

a : highly rhetorical : ornate

b : marked by profanity

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Origin of PURPLE

Middle English purpel, alteration of purper, from Old English purpuran of purple, genitive of purpure purple color, from Latin purpura, from Greek porphyra

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to PURPLE

Synonyms: aureate, florid, grandiloquent, highfalutin (also hifalutin), high-flown, high-sounding, magnific, ornate, flowery, rhetorical (also rhetoric)

Other Color Terms

argentine, cerise, cerulean, cyan, ocher, perse, puce, taupe, vermilion

²purple

noun

: a color that is between red and blue

Full Definition of PURPLE

a (1) : cloth dyed purple (2) : a garment of such color; especially : a purple robe worn as an emblem of rank or authority

b (1) : tyrian purple (2) : any of various colors that fall about midway between red and blue in hue

c (1) : a mollusk (as of the genus Purpura) yielding a purple dye and especially the Tyrian purple of ancient times (2) : a pigment or dye that colors purple

a : imperial or regal rank or power

b : high rank or station

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