- purple
- O.E. purpul, dissimilation (first recorded in Northumbrian, in Lindisfarne gospel) from purpure "purple garment," purpuren "purple," from L. purpura "purple-dyed cloak, purple dye," also "shellfish from which purple was made," from Gk. porphyra (see porphyry), of Semitic origin, originally the name for the shellfish (murex) from which it was obtained. Tyrian purple, produced around Tyre, was prized as dye for royal garments. As a color name, attested from late 14c. Also the color of mourning or penitence (especially in royalty or clergy). Rhetorical for "splendid, gaudy" (of prose) from 1590s. Purpur continued as a parallel form until 15c., and through 19c. in heraldry. 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."
- porphyry
- "beautiful and valuable stone," 1395, from O.Fr. porfire, from L. porphyrites, a purple semi-precious stone quarried near Red Sea in Egypt, from Gk. porphyrites "like purple" (the stone's name in Gk.), from porphyra (n.) "purple."
- purpura
- 1753, from Mod.L., from L. purpura (see purple). Disease characterized by purple patches on the skin.
- Phoenician
- late 14c., from M.Fr. phenicien, from L. Phoenice, from Gk. Phoinike, perhaps lit. "land of the purple" (source of purple dye). Identical with phoenix (q.v.), but the relationship is obscure.
- amaranthine
- 1667, "unfading, undying," poetic (apparently coined by Milton), also amarantine; see amaranth. Later used of a purple color.
- Agent Orange
- powerful defoliant used by U.S. military in the Vietnam War, c.1970, so called from the color strip on the side of the container, which distinguished it from Agent Blue, Agent Purple, Agent White, etc., other herbicides used by the U.S. military. Banned from April 1970.
- Tyrian
- 1513, from L. Tyrius "of Tyre," from Tyrus, island-city in the Levant, from Gk. Tyros, from Hebrew/Phoenician tzor, lit. "rock, rocky place." Especially in ref. to Tyrian purple, a dye made there in ancient times from certain mollusks.
- hyacinth
- 1553 in this form; earlier jacinth (1230), from Gk. hyakinthos, probably ult. from a non-I.E. Mediterranean language. Used in ancient Greece of a blue gem, perhaps sapphire, and of a purple or deep red flower, but exactly which one is unknown (gladiolus, iris, and larkspur have been suggested). Fabled to have sprouted from the blood of Hyakinthos, youth beloved by Apollo and accidentally slain by him. The flower is said to have the letters "AI" or "AIAI" on its petals. The modern use in ref. to a flowering plant genus is from 1578.
- lavender
- c.1265, "fragrant plant of the mint family," from Anglo-Fr. lavendre, from M.L. lavendula "lavender" (10c.), perhaps from L. lividus "bluish, livid." Associated with Fr. lavande, It. lavanda "a washing" (from L. lavare "to wash;" see lave) because it was used to scent washed fabrics and as a bath perfume. The meaning "pale purple color" is from 1840.
- murex
- kind of shellfish which yields a purple dye, 1589, from L. murex (pl. murices), probably cognate with Gk. myax "sea mussel," of unknown origin, perhaps related to mys "mouse" (see muscle and mussel).
- phoenix
- O.E. and O.Fr. fenix, from M.L. phenix, from Gk. phoinix "mythical bird," also "the date" (fruit and tree), also "Phoenician," lit. "purple-red," perhaps a foreign word, or from phoinos "blood-red." Exact relation and order of the senses in Gk. is unclear.
Ðone wudu weardaþ wundrum fæger
Fig. sense of "that which rises from the ashes of what was destroyed" is attested from 1591. The city in Arizona, U.S., so called because it was founded in 1867 on the site of an ancient Native American settlement.
fugel feþrum se is fenix hatan
["Phoenix," c.900] - ink
- "the black liquor with which men write" [Johnson], mid-13c., from O.Fr. enque "dark writing fluid," from L.L. encaustum, from Gk. enkauston "purple or red ink," used by the Roman emperors to sign documents, originally a neut. adj. form of enkaustos "burned in," from stem of enkaiein "to burn in," from en- "in" + kaiein "to burn" (see caustic). The word is from a Gk. method of applying colored wax and fixing it with heat. The verb meaning "to mark or stain in ink" is from 1560s. Inky "as black as ink" is attested from 1590s.
- toga
- c.1600, from L. toga "cloak or mantle," related to tegere "to cover" (see stegosaurus). The outer garment of a Roman citizen in time of peace; toga prætexta had a broad purple border and was worn by children, magistrates, persons engaged in sacred rites, and later also emperors; toga virilis, the "toga of manhood," was assumed by boys at puberty. Breeches, like the word for them (L. bracae) were alien to the Romans, the dress of Persians, Germans and Gauls, so that bracatus "wearing breeches" was a term in Roman geography meaning "north of the Alps." College fraternity toga party popularized by movie "Animal House" (1978), but this is set in 1962.