purple: [OE] Greek porphúrā, a word of Semitic origin, denoted a sort of shellfish from which a reddish dye was obtained (known as Tyrian purple, because it was produced around Tyre, in what is now Lebanon, it was highly prized in ancient times, and used for dyeing royal garments). It hence came to be used for the dye itself, and for cloth coloured with it, and it passed in this latter sense (with the particular connotation of ‘royal cloth’) via Latin purpura into Old English as purpura. Its derived adjective purpuran became purple by a process known as dissimilation, by which one of two similar speech sounds (here /r/) is altered.
purple (n., adj.)
Old English purpul, dissimilation (first recorded in Northumbrian, in Lindisfarne gospel) of purpure "purple dye, a purple garment," purpuren (adj.) "purple," a borrowing by 9c. from Latin purpura "purple color, purple-dyed cloak, purple dye," also "shellfish from which purple was made," and "splendid attire generally," from Greek porphyra "purple dye, purple" (see porphyry), of uncertain origin, perhaps Semitic, originally the name for the shellfish (murex) from which it was obtained. Purpur continued as a parallel form until 15c., and through 19c. in heraldry. As a color name, attested from early 15c. Tyrian purple, produced around Tyre, was prized as dye for royal garments.
Also the color of mourning or penitence (especially in royalty or clergy). Rhetorical for "splendid, gaudy" (of prose) from 1590s. 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." Purple finch so called from 1826; "the name is a misnomer, arising from the faulty coloring of a plate by Mark Catesby, 1731" [Century Dictionary] Also house finch, so called for its domesticity.
purple (v.)
c. 1400, from purple (n.). Related: Purpled; purpling.
例文
1. 「Get the guy in the purple shirt.」—"All right，my man."
「紫のシャツを着たやつを呼んで」——「はい、お兄さん。」
2.All shades of mauve，lilac，lavender and purple were fashionable.
濃淡のさまざまな無窮色、丁香色、燻衣草色、紫が流行色です。
3.The avenues lined with jacaranda trees burst into a carnival of purple .
通りの両側には青い花のガジュマルが植えられ、咲いた花が紫色の海に合流している。
4.Its large leaves often show a delicate purple tint.
大きな葉は紫色を帯びていることが多い。
5.Beckham wore a fetching outfit in purple and green.