Webster's English Dictionary

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purple

1. pur.ple \'p*r-p*l\ aj [ME purpel, alter. of purper, fr. OE purpuran, 
   gen. of pur]pure purple color, fr. L purpura, fr. Gk porphyra 1: IMPERIAL, 
   REGAL  2: the color purple  3a: highly rhetorical : ORNATE  3b: marked by 
   profanity 
2. purple n 1a1: TYRIAN PURPLE  1a2: any of various colors that fall about 
   midway between red and blue in h ue 1b1: cloth dyed purple  1b2: a garment 
   of such color; esp : a purple robe worn as an emblem  of rank or authority 
   1c1: a mollusk (as of the genus Purpura) yielding a purple dye and es p. 
   the Tyrian purple of ancient times 1c2: a pigment or dye that colors purple 
    2a: imperial or regal rank or power  2b: exalted station 
3. purple \'p*r-p(*-)lin\ vb or pur.pling : to turn purple