PURPLE

I. adjective (~r; ~st) Etymology: Middle English purpel, alteration of purper, from Old English purpuran of ~, genitive of purpure ~ color, from Latin purpura, from Greek porphyra Date: before 12th century regal , imperial , of the color ~, 3. highly rhetorical ; ornate , marked by profanity, II. noun Date: 15th century 1. a. cloth dyed ~, a garment of such color, b. Tyrian ~ , any of various colors that fall about midway between red and blue in hue, c. a mollusk (as of the genus Purpura ) yielding a ~ dye and especially the Tyrian ~ of ancient times, a pigment or dye that colors ~, 2. imperial or regal rank or power, high rank or station, III. verb (~d; purpling) Date: 15th century transitive verb to make ~, intransitive verb to become ~