Our Color Your World series is to provide a list of synonyms for different colors. All too often, writers resort to using the same word for a color in their writing, leading to a rather monotonous redundancy. Sadly this can lend itself to making the story uninteresting at worst, ho-hum at best.
This series is designed to give you more options which will help you keep your color references fresh and inviting.
This post will consider Purple.
According to www.colormatters.com, "Purple's rarity in nature and the expense of creating the color has given purple a supernatural aura for centuries. Purple is also the most powerful wavelength of the rainbow, and its a color with a powerful history that has evolved over time. In fact, the origins of the symbolism of purple are more significant and interesting than those of any other color.
As civilizations developed, so did clothing and colored dyes. The earliest purple dyes date back to about 1900 BC. It took some 12,000 (Murex Trunculus)mollusks to extract 1.5 grams of the pure dye- barely enough for dying a single garment the size of the Roman Toga. It's no wonder then, that this color was used primarily for garments of the emperors or privileged individuals.
Taking all aspects of purple's past and present into consideration, purple symbolizes magic, mystery, spirituality, the sub conscious, creativity, dignity, royalty, and it evokes all of these meanings more so than any other color.
Variations of purple convey different meanings: Light purples are light-hearted, floral and romantic. The dark shades are more intellectual and dignified.
The negative meanings of purple are decadence, conceit and pomposity. Purple is also a color for mourning.
Global meanings of Purple
Purples global similarities are significant:
Purple tends to be a color people either love or hate.
Among Mediterranean people, purple was reserved for emperors and Popes. The Japanese christened it "Imperial Purple."
Purple is the color of mourning or death in many cultures, I.E. the U.K., Italy, Thailand and Brazil.
Purple is also NOT a common flag color. Only two flags contain the color purple."
For more information and details, please visit www.colormatters.com.
The following is an alphabetical list of names for this marvelous color. It will allow you to add more depth and texture to your literary creative world.
African Violet
amethyst
antique fuchsia
Aubergine
Boysenberry
Bright Lavender
Bright Ube
Brilliant Lavender
Byzantine
Byzantium
China Rose
Chinese Violet
Cyber Grape
Damson
Dark Byzantium
Dark Lavender
Dark Magenta
Dark Orchid
Dark Pastel Purple
Dark Raspberry
Dark Violet
Deep Fuchsia
Deep Lilac
Deep Magenta
Deep Mauve
Deep Ruby
Deep Tuscan Red
Eggplant
Electric Lavender
Electric Purple
Electric Violet
Eminence
English Lavender
English Violet
Fandango
French Lilac
French Mauve
Fuchsia
Grape
Halaya Ube
Heather
Heliotrope
Imperial
Imperial Purple
Japanese Violet
Jazzberry Jam
Lavender
Lavender purple
Light medium Orchid
Light Pastel Purple
Lilac
Magenta
Mardi Gras
Mauve
Mauve Taupe
Mountbatten Pink
Mulberry
Old Lavender
Old Mauve
Opera Mauve
Orchid
Palatinate Purple
Pale Plum
Pansy Purple
Patriarch
Pearly Purple
Petunia
Phlox
Plum
Psychedelic Purple
Puce
Purple
Purpureus
Red-violet
Rich Brilliant Lavender
Russian Violet
Tyrian Purple
Voilet
Wisteria
