purplishadj.
/ˈpəːpl̩ɪʃ/, /ˈpəːplɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈpərp(ə)lɪʃ/ Somewhat purple in colour; tinged with purple.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > purple or purpleness > [adjective] > purplish
purplish1562
purply1725
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 54 Mint..hath in ye top of the stalkes a purplishe flour.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 103 These Catterpillers are blackish-redde, with spots or streakes going ouerthwart theyr sides, beeing halfe white and halfe purpelish.
a1637 Chloridia in B. Jonson Wks. (1640) 152 On the other side of the Scene, in a purplish Cloud, appeareth the Spring.
1707 H. Sloane Voy. Islands I. 163 A round purplish knob..coronated by a long membrane.
1747 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 397/1 This plant is the large deadly night shade..containing purplish juice.
1800 tr. E. J. B. Bouillon-Lagrange Man. Course Chem. II. 137 If you put a piece of gold between two cards and expose it to a strong electric shock, you will obtain it in the state of a purplish oxide.
1886 Cent. Mag. 32 274/1 The eggs..are greenish blue, with faint brown or purplish markings.
1927 Amer. Mercury Nov. 275/2 The face..is purplish in moments of vehemence, which are frequent.
1950 W. O. Douglas Of Men & Mountains vi. 72 The purplish pasqueflower or western anemone was in seed.
1994 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 15 May 7/5 The purplish ball at the end of a bunch's stalk should be cut off.
Compounds
Modifying colour words to form adjectives and nouns, as purplish-green, purplish-red, purplish-white, etc.
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1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole ii. i. 474 A number of small purplish white flowers.
1686 Philos. Trans. 1685 (Royal Soc.) 15 1280 In a little time more, it will be of a Purplish red.
1704 Dict. Rusticum at Meadow-saffron Chequered Meadow-Saffron of Naples, has deep purplish red Flowers, chequered like a Frittillary.
1766 Compl. Farmer at Service-tree The branches, while young, have a purplish brown bark.
1828 J. E. Smith Eng. Flora (ed. 2) II. 14 Seed purplish-black.
1848 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) I. 368/1 Amethyst is a pure rock-crystal, of a purplish-violet colour.
1882 Garden 27 May 366/1 Spikes of purplish green flowers.
1915 W. Cather Song of Lark iii. ii. 262 By the morning light, the purplish brown circles under her eyes were pathetic enough, and foretold no long or brilliant future.
1948 C. Rice Big Midget Murders xxiv. 200 The walls were done in an exquisitely designed paper, grey-white scrolls against a darker, purplish grey.
1988 M. Gardiner Scatter of Memories 207 She wore a long purplish-blue dress with a lace collar.
2000 C. Hanger World Food: Morocco 123 Our baskets fill with purplish-red, round rammahn (pomegranate), pears and lemons too.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1562