pur·ple (pûr'pəl)
n.

1. Any of a group of colors with a hue between that of violet and red.
2. Cloth of a color between violet and red, formerly worn as a symbol of royalty or high office.
3. Imperial power; high rank: born to the purple.
4. Roman Catholic Church.
   1. The rank or office of a cardinal.
   2. The rank or office of a bishop.

adj.

1. Of the color purple.
2. Royal or imperial; regal.
3. Elaborate and ornate: purple prose.

tr. & intr.v., -pled, -pling, -ples.
To make or become purple.

[Middle English, from Old English purpul, from purpure, purple garment, from Latin purpura, shellfish yielding purple dye, purple cloth, purple, from Greek porphurā.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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