purpureal

pur·pu·re·al
P3U1R1P3U1R1E1A1L1
UK/pɜːˈpjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/US/pɝˈp(j)ʊ.ɹi.əl/

adjective

Of a purple colour.

Similar
purplepurpuraceouspurpuratepurpurepurpureanpurpureouspurpurine
OriginLatin purpureus ← Ancient Greek πορφῠ́ρᾱ →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

adjectivepurpureal (comparative more purpureal, superlative most purpureal)

comparative more purpureal · superlative most purpureal

  1. literarypoeticOf a purple colour.

    But not ere him who summoneth / I first have seen, enwound / With glooming robes purpureal, cypress-crowned; [...]

    1893, Francis Thompson, “The Hound of Heaven”, in The Works of Francis Thompson, volume I (Poems), New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons […], published 1913, →OCLC, page 112
    4 more examples

    [G]liding thro' his daughter's honour'd ſhades, / The ſmooth Penéus from his glaſſy flood / Reflects purpureal Tempe's pleaſant ſcene?

    1744, [Mark Akenside], “Book the First”, in The Pleasures of Imagination. A Poem. In Three Books, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley […], →OCLC, page 16, lines 296–298

    [T]he fair star / That gems the glittering coronet of morn, / Sheds not a light so mild, so powerful, / As that which, bursting from the Fairy's form, / Spread a purpureal halo round the scene, / Yet with an undulating motion, / Swayed to her outline gracefully.

    1813, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Canto I”, in Queen Mab; […], London: […] P. B. Shelley, […], →OCLC, page 6

    Of all that is most beauteous—imaged there / In happier beauty; more pellucid streams, / An ampler ether, a diviner air, / And fields invested with purpureal gleams; [...]

    1815, William Wordsworth, “[Poems Founded on the Affections.] Laodamia.”, in Poems […], volume I, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], published 1815, →OCLC, page 229

    Above the altar-lace / he mounted a triptych of the Assumption / with coarse, purpureal clouds, a prescient Madonna / drawn from Leonardo's "Our Lady of the Rocks."

    1973, Derek Walcott, “[Homage to Gregorias] Chapter 10”, in Another Life, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 63

    Synonyms: purple, purpuraceous, purpurate, purpure, purpurean, purpureous, purpurine

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveOf a purple colour.

Similar
purplepurpuraceouspurpuratepurpurepurpureanpurpureouspurpurine
Also see
purple

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekπορφύρεος“of a purple colour”
  2. Ancient Greekπορφῠ́ρᾱ“purple-fish; purple dye obtained from it; purple-dyed cloth; purple stripe or other adornment of a garment”
  3. Latinpurpureus“purple, violet; brown, reddish; clothed in purple; (figurative) brilliant, shining; beautiful”
  4. Englishpurpureal

From Latin purpureus (“purple, violet; brown, reddish; clothed in purple; (figurative) brilliant, shining; beautiful”) + English -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Purpureus is either derived: * from purpura (“the colour purple; purple-fish (Hexaplex trunculus)”) (from Ancient Greek πορφῠ́ρᾱ (porphŭ́rā, “purple-fish; purple dye obtained from it; purple-dyed cloth; purple stripe or other adornment of a garment”), from πορφύρω (porphúrō, “to redden”)) + -eus (suffix forming adjectives from nouns); or * from Ancient Greek πορφύρεος (porphúreos, “of a purple colour”), from πορφῠ́ρᾱ (porphŭ́rā) (see above) + -εος (-eos).

More words from Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French violâtre
  • violâtre(literary, poetic) of a purple colour — see also purple
Cite this entry
APA

purpureal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purpureal

MLA

“purpureal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purpureal. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “purpureal,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purpureal.

Source: purpureal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.