Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
PURPLE
I. adjective (purpler; purplest)
Etymology: Middle English purpel, alteration of purper, from Old English purpuran of purple, genitive of purpure purple color, from Latin purpura, from Greek porphyra Date: before 12th century regal , imperial , of the color purple,
3. highly rhetorical ; ornate , marked by profanity,
II. noun
Date: 15th century
1. a. cloth dyed purple, a garment of such color, b. Tyrian purple , any of various colors that fall about midway between red and blue in hue, c. a mollusk (as of the genus Purpura ) yielding a purple dye and especially the Tyrian purple of ancient times, a pigment or dye that colors purple,
2. imperial or regal rank or power, high rank or station,
III. verb (purpled; purpling)
Date: 15th century
transitive verb to make purple, intransitive verb to become purple