violet

Inherited from Middle English violet, vyolet, vyolette, from Old French violette, from Latin viola (“violet”). Cognate with Lithuanian violetinė (“purple, violet”) and Spanish violeta (“purple, violet”).

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvaɪələt/, /ˈvaɪlət/

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪlət
• Hyphenation: vi‧o‧let, vio‧let

violet (plural violets)

1. A plant or flower of the genus Viola, especially the fragrant Viola odorata; (inexact) similar-looking plants and flowers.

   Synonym: (historical US) rooster

   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 160:

     Refreshed by their cooling bath of evening dew, the violets and other nocturnal flowers emitted a pleasant fragrance over the fields, but from the bogs and the rivulets came up now and then damp, penetrating gusts, that sent an icy chill through me.

2. (figurative) A person thought to resemble V. odorata, especially in its beauty and delicacy.
   • 1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, →OCLC, section I, page 13:

     ‘Tom,’ he said, ‘you are looking at a crushed violet, a spent egg, a squeezed tube.’

3. The color of most violets; the colour evoked by the shortest visible wavelengths between 380 and 435 nm, an additive tertiary colour.

   violet:  

   web violet:  

4. Clothes and (ecclesiastical) vestments of such a colour.
5. (perfumes) The characteristic scent of V. odorata.
6. (UK dialect) Synonym of onion.

• viola
• violaceous

• → Tokelauan: vaioleti, vaiolē, violē

violet (comparative violeter, superlative violetest)

1. Of a violet colour.

• gentamicin
• iodine
• iodopsin
• iolite
• ionone
• adder’s tongue
• cudbear
• rainbow
• rocket
• trout lily
• wild pansy

Colors/Colours in English (layout · text)
red	orange	yellow	green	blue (incl.      indigo;              cyan, teal, turquoise)	purple / violet
pink (including          magenta)	brown		white	gray/grey	black

• Violet (color) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Viola (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Viola on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Viola on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• “violet”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• Olivet, Voitel, olivet, toivel

From Dutch violet, borrowed from French violet, from Latin viola (“violet”).

violet (attributive violette, not comparable)

1. violet-coloured

violet (plural violette)

1. (uncountable) violet, a purplish colour
2. (botany) violet, viola

   Synonym: viooltjie

Colors in Afrikaans · kleure (layout · text)

wit	grys	swart
rooi; karmosyn	oranje; bruin	geel; room
lemmetjie	groen	mentgroen
siaan; teel	asuur, hemelsblou	blou
violet; indigo	magenta; pers	pienk

Borrowed from French violet.

• Audio:

  (file)

violet n (plural violetten, diminutive violetje n)

1. violet, a purplish colour

• violetblauw
• violetbruin

violet (comparative violetter, superlative violetst)

1. violet-coloured

Declension of violet
uninflected	violet
inflected	violette
comparative	violetter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		violet	violetter	het violetst het violetste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	violette	violettere	violetste
	n. sing.	violet	violetter	violetste
	plural	violette	violettere	violetste
definite		violette	violettere	violetste
partitive		violets	violetters	—

Colors in Dutch · kleuren (layout · text)

wit	grijs	zwart
rood; karmijnrood	oranje; bruin	geel; roomwit
groengeel/limoengroen	groen
blauwgroen/cyaan; groenblauw/petrolblauw	azuurblauw	blauw
violet; indigo	magenta; paars	roze

• M. J. Koenen & J. Endepols, Verklarend Handwoordenboek der Nederlandse Taal (tevens Vreemde-woordentolk), Groningen, Wolters-Noordhoff, 1969 (26th edition) [Dutch dictionary in Dutch]

• vloeit

From Old French violet, a back-formation from violette (“violet (flower)”), from viole + -ette, from Latin viola.

• IPA^(key): /vjɔ.lɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: violais, violait, violaient

violet m (countable and uncountable, plural violets)

1. (usually uncountable) purple (colour)
2. (countable) mushroom with a violet cap, such as a webcap or cortinar

violet (feminine violette, masculine plural violets, feminine plural violettes)

1. purple

• Louisiana Creole: vyolé

Colors in French · couleurs (layout · text)

blanc	gris	noir
rouge; cramoisi, carmin	orange; brun, marron	jaune; crème
lime	vert	menthe
cyan, turquoise; bleu canard	azur, bleu ciel	bleu
violet, lilas; indigo	magenta; pourpre	rose

• “violet”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯i.o.let/, [ˈu̯iɔɫ̪ɛt̪]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.o.let/, [ˈviːolet̪]

violet

1. third-person singular present active subjunctive of violō

• vyolet, vyolette, violette, vyelet, vialet

From Old French violette, from Latin viola.

• IPA^(key): /ˈviːɔlɛt/, /ˈviːəlɛt/

violet (uncountable)

1. violet (plant in the genus Viola)
2. The flower of such a plant
3. violet, blue-purple (colour)
4. violet-coloured cloth

• English: violet

• “vī̆olet, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.

violet

1. violet-coloured
2. Made of violet-coloured cloth

• English: violet

• “vī̆olet, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.

Colors in Middle English · coloures, hewes (layout · text)

whit	grey, hor	blak
red; cremesyn, gernet	citrine, aumbre; broun, tawne	yelow, dorry, gul; canevas
grasgrene	grene
plunket; ewage	asure, livid	blewe, blo, pers
violet; inde	rose, murrey; purpel, purpur	claret

Borrowed from French violet.

• IPA^(key): /vi.oˈlet/

violet m or n (feminine singular violetă, masculine plural violeți, feminine and neuter plural violete)

1. purple

   Synonym: mov

As with other color words borrowed from French, violet is often used as an invariable adjective, but this usage is proscribed by the Romanian Academy.

violet n (uncountable)

1. purple (color)

   Synonym: mov

• violetă

Colors in Romanian · culori (layout · text)

alb	gri	negru
roșu; carmin	portocaliu; maro	galben; crem
	verde	verde mentă
cyan	bleu	albastru
violet; indigo	mov; purpură	roz

• violet in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Borrowed from Old French violette, from Latin viola (“violet”).

violet m (feminine singular violetta, masculine plural violets, feminine plural violettas)

1. purple