/perr"looh, perrl"yooh/ , n.
1. purlieus , environs or neighborhood.
2. a place where one may range at large; confines or bounds.
3. a person's haunt or resort.
4. an outlying district or region, as of a town or city.
5. a piece of land on the edge of a forest, originally land that, after having been included in a royal forest, was restored to private ownership, though still subject, in some respects, to the operation of the forest laws.
[ 1475-85; alter. (simulating F lieu place) of earlier parlewe, parley, paraley purlieu of a forest purale ( e ) a going through, equiv. to pur ( pro for, PRO 1 , confused with per through) + aller (see ALLEY) ]