Emily Dickinson Lexicon

purple, adj. [ONorthumb. < ME < L. purpura < Gk πορφύρα, Mediterranean shell-fish that yields the Tyrian purple.] (webplay: blissful, blue, blue birds, color, dress, dyed, east, emperor, flood, flowers, hands, morn, red, Red Sea, robes, soft, spots, sweet, wore).

1. Hazy blue; [fig.] distant; elevated; referring to landscape, high mountains, or the horizon.
2. Blue and red; [fig.] life-giving; vital; blood-carrying.
3. Tyrian blue; [fig.] imperial; majestic; distinguished; elegant; pertaining to color of the robes of kings and queens.
4. Bluish-red; violet; crimson; tinted with deep colors caused by the sunrise or sunset.
5. Exotic; mysterious.
6. Deeply-colored; floral; lavender; referring to flowers.
7. Drowned; bluish in color like the body after death; [fig.] funereal; deathly.
8. Ruling; commanding; all-powerful; omnipotent.
9. Dark; deep; unfathomable in depth.
10. Phrase. “Purple host”: iris flowers; flags, in the botanical sense; [fig.] blood-stained soldiers; bruised battle-worn exhausted army personnel; brave heroic bold soldiers with flags, banners, or pennants.
11. Phrase. “purple finger”: shadow; [fig.] violet-colored bloom; lilac, lavender, or gentian blossoms; covering of aster flowers.