English
purpure
Purpure comes from Latin purpura, and goes back to Ancient Greek πορφύρα ‘purple-fish’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπορφύρα1‘purple-fish’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpurpura2
- Old Englishc. 450–1150purpure2‘a purple garment or material’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500purpure2
- Englishearliest quotation 1997purpure2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin purpura
- 2 Wiktionary, English purpure
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Brault: “Many authorities reject the authenticity of purpure as a…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπορφύραWiktionary, Latin purpura‘purple-fish’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpurpuraWiktionary, English purpure
- Old Englishc. 450–1150purpureWiktionary, English purpure‘a purple garment or material’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500purpureWiktionary, English purpure
- Englishearliest quotation 1997purpureWiktionary, English purpure. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Brault: “Many authorities reject the authenticity of purpure as a…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- ‘to boil’
brand, bread, burn, broth, bourbon, brew, brunt, bourne, brim, fervor, fervent, ferment, effervescent, broil, bren, briny, 40 more
through Ancient Greek πορφύρα ‘purple-fish’
through Old English purpure ‘a purple garment or material’
Today it means
noun A purple colour on a coat of arms, represented in engraving by diagonal parallel lines 45 degrees clockwise.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “purpure”; 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 / purpure