Etymologically
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violet

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈvaɪ.ə.lət/, /ˈvaɪ.lət/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English violet, borrowed from Old French violete,[2][3][4] a diminutive of viole (“violet”),[2][5][6] from Latin viola (“violet; violet colour”).[2][4][7] The Latin word was itself borrowed, probably from a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean language that also gave Ancient Greek ἴον (íon, “violet”),[2][5][8] and Merriam-Webster calls it of non-Indo-European origin.[9] The adjective is from violet, the masculine form.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The flower: the OED's first example is from Arthour and Merlin of about 1330,[3] which Barnhart dates probably before 1300.[5]

Semantic evolution

The plant name came first, and the colour name grew out of it,[2][8][10] with violet-coloured cloth and vestments recorded from 1380 and the colour itself from about 1400.[3][11] The adjective is from 1370.[3] From 1412 Lydgate applied the flower figuratively to people, as an image of beauty and modesty.[3][11] The scent of violets, used in cosmetics, is recorded from about 1850,[3] and a slang sense "onion" from 1890, although Green notes that no real example has been found.[3][12] shrinking violet, a shy person, is a later figurative use.[13]

Timeline

  • c. 1330 – the plant or flower.[3]
  • 1370 – the adjective, violet-coloured.[3][11]
  • 1380 – cloth or dress of a violet colour.[3][11]
  • c. 1400 – the colour, a pigment or dye.[3]
  • 1412 – figurative, of people.[3]
  • 1650s – violaceous, from Latin.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A low perennial plant of the genus Viola, with small purple, blue or white flowers.
  2. A bluish-purple colour, at the short-wavelength end of the visible spectrum.

Adjective

  1. Of a bluish-purple colour.

Word family

  • ultraviolet
  • crystal violet
  • gentian violet
  • Parma violet
  • shrinking violet
  • viola
  • violaceous
  • iodine

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  11. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  12. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins