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   Pur·ple

   /ˈpərp(ə)l/

   

   noun

   • 1. a color intermediate between red and blue: "the painting was mostly in shades of blue and purple"
   • ▪ purple clothing or material.
   • ▪ a crimson dye obtained from some mollusks, formerly used for fabric worn by an emperor or senior magistrate in ancient Rome or Byzantium.
   • ▪ (in ancient Rome or Byzantium) clothing made from fabric dyed with Tyrian purple.
   • ▪ (in ancient Rome) a position of rank, authority, or privilege: "he was too young to assume the purple"
   • ▪ the scarlet official dress of a cardinal.

   adjective

   • 1. of a color intermediate between red and blue: "a faded purple T-shirt"

   verb

   • 1. become or make purple in color: "Ed's cheeks purpled"

   Word Origin Old English (describing the clothing of an emperor), alteration of purpre, from Latin purpura ‘purple’, from Greek porphura, denoting mollusks that yielded a crimson dye, also cloth dyed with this.

   Derivatives

   • 1. purpleness noun
   • 2. purplish adjective

   Scrabble Points: 10

   • P

     3

   • U

     1

   • R

     1

   • P

     3

   • L

     1

   • E

     1

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