purpura Latin · revision 7463

16 Oct 2026, 13:58 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)”
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Twelve Tables|origins=grc πορφύρα}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpʊr.pʊ.ra], [ˈpʊr.pʊ.raː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpur.pu.ra], [ˈpur.pu.ra]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''purpura''' ''f'' (genitive purpurae); first declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|grc|πορφύρα|tr=porphúra|t=purple fish, purple dye]], borrowed early, as the ⟨u⟩ for Greek ⟨υ⟩ and ⟨p⟩ for ⟨φ⟩ show.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) Köbler calls the further origin of the Greek word unclear.^(Köbler 2010) Isidore derived it from the purity of light.^(Isidore)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Köbler's first source is the Twelve Tables, which he dates about 450 BC.^(Köbler 2010) The OLD's earliest citations are from Ennius, of the shellfish and the dye, and Plautus, of purple cloth.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant the shellfish yielding a purple dye, probably the murex, the dye itself, from blood-red to violet, and purple-dyed cloth as a sign of wealth, as in Plautus.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Cicero it was the dress of kings, in Ovid the purple-bordered toga of the consuls and their office, and in Pliny the Elder the purple stripe of senators and knights.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) In Virgil it meant purple colour in nature, as of violets, and it apparently also meant porphyry.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant purple or purple cloth, ''rēgis purpura'' “royal purple”.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used it of purple trimmings on clothes.^(Niermeyer 1976) It was borrowed by the 9th century into Old English as ''purpure'', whence [[en|purple]], and in 1753 [[en|purpura]] became the name of a disease with purple patches.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of the shellfish and the dye.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of royal dress.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * by 9th century – Old English ''purpure'' is recorded, the source of ''purple''.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1753 – English ''purpura'' names a disease.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # The purple-fish, [[m|en|murex]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # [[m|en|Purple]] dye.^(OLD 2012)
+ # Purple cloth; royal dress; the consular toga; the senatorial stripe.^(OLD 2012)
+ # Purple colour in nature.^(OLD 2012)
+ # [[m|en|Porphyry]].^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[purpurārius]]
+ * [[purpurātus]]
+ * [[purpureus]]
+ * [[purpurō]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[purpurāmentum]]
+ * [[purpurascō]]
+ * [[purpurētica]]
+ * [[purpurissātus]]
+ * [[purpurissum]]
+ * [[purpurīticus]]
+ * [[en|purple]]
+ * [[en|purpura]]
+ * [[en|porphyry]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}