n. (pl. purlieus) 1 a person's bounds or limits. 2 a person's usual haunts. 3 Brit. hist. a tract on the border of a forest, esp. one earlier included in it and still partly subject to forest laws. 4 (in pl.) the outskirts; an outlying region.
[ ME purlew, prob. alt. after F lieu place f. AF purale(e), OF pourallee a going round to settle the boundaries f. po(u)raler traverse ]