Translation
purple; deep crimson-purple (of the ancient dye)
Word origin
From Latin purpura, itself from Greek porphyra, the name of the murex sea snail and of the dye extracted from it. The dye was ruinously expensive, which is why the colour meant emperors long before it meant a shade.
- Origin
- Greek, via Latin
- Root
- porphyra
- English cognates
- purple, porphyry
Examples
.
She wore a purple dress.
.
The sky turned purple in the evening.
.
Purple flowers grow by the river.
Read purpur- as one root and do not go looking for pieces. The word sits next to , clean, and Esperanto does own a suffix -ur-, so the eye offers pur plus -ur- plus -a and gets nowhere: a purple flower has nothing to do with cleanliness, and the sequence is an accident of Latin. It is the same lesson teaches in this chapter, and both are worth meeting early, because the alternative is a habit of confident wrong guesses.
On the colour itself, usage has drifted. Classical purpuro was the crimson-violet of the Tyrian dye, nearer to deep red than to what an English speaker pictures; modern Esperanto mostly means plain purple, and violkolora is the reliable word for the bluer end. Say for the imperial, expensive, slightly theatrical shade and you will be understood either way.
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purpura: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "purpura" (purple; deep crimson-purple (of the ancient dye)): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 36.