Etymograph

English

purpura

Purpura comes from Latin purpura, and goes back to Ancient Greek πορφύρα ‘purple-fish’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπορφύρα1‘purple-fish’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpurpura2
  3. Englishtodaypurpura2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin purpura
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English purpura

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπορφύραWiktionary, Latin purpura‘purple-fish’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpurpuraWiktionary, English purpura
  3. EnglishtodaypurpuraWiktionary, English purpura

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- ‘to boil’

brand, bread, burn, brew, broth, bourbon, brunt, bourne, brim, fervor, fervent, ferment, bren, effervescent, broil, briny, 40 more

through Ancient Greek πορφύρα ‘purple-fish’

porphyry, 13 more

through Latin purpura

purple, 12 more

Today it means

noun The appearance of red or purple discolorations on the skin that do not blanch when pressure is applied, caused by subdermal bleeding.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “purpura”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin purpura. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek πορφύρα / purpura

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