purple: [OE] Greek porphúrā, a word of Semitic origin, denoted a sort of shellfish from which a reddish dye was obtained (known as Tyrian purple, because it was produced around Tyre, in what is now Lebanon, it was highly prized in ancient times, and used for dyeing royal garments). It hence came to be used for the dye itself, and for cloth coloured with it, and it passed in this latter sense (with the particular connotation of ‘royal cloth’) via Latin purpura into Old English as purpura. Its derived adjective purpuran became purple by a process known as dissimilation, by which one of two similar speech sounds (here /r/) is altered.
purple (n., adj.)
Old English purpul, dissimilation (first recorded in Northumbrian, in Lindisfarne gospel) of purpure "purple dye, a purple garment," purpuren (adj.) "purple," a borrowing by 9c. from Latin purpura "purple color, purple-dyed cloak, purple dye," also "shellfish from which purple was made," and "splendid attire generally," from Greek porphyra "purple dye, purple" (see porphyry), of uncertain origin, perhaps Semitic, originally the name for the shellfish (murex) from which it was obtained. Purpur continued as a parallel form until 15c., and through 19c. in heraldry. As a color name, attested from early 15c. Tyrian purple, produced around Tyre, was prized as dye for royal garments.
Also the color of mourning or penitence (especially in royalty or clergy). Rhetorical for "splendid, gaudy" (of prose) from 1590s. Purple Heart, U.S. decoration for service members wounded in combat, instituted 1932; originally a cloth decoration begun by George Washington in 1782. Hendrix' Purple Haze (1967) is slang for "LSD." Purple finch so called from 1826; "the name is a misnomer, arising from the faulty coloring of a plate by Mark Catesby, 1731" [Century Dictionary] Also house finch, so called for its domesticity.
purple (v.)
c. 1400, from purple (n.). Related: Purpled; purpling.
实用例句
1. "Get the guy in the purple shirt." — "All right, my man."
“把那个穿紫衬衫的家伙叫过来。”——“好的，老兄。”
来自柯林斯例句
2. All shades of mauve, lilac, lavender and purple were fashionable.
深深浅浅的各种木槿色、丁香色、熏衣草色和紫色都是流行色。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The avenues lined with jacaranda trees burst into a carnival of purple.
大街的两旁种着蓝花楹，绽放的花朵汇成一片紫色的海洋。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Its large leaves often show a delicate purple tint.
它的大叶子往往带点紫色。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Beckham wore a fetching outfit in purple and green.
