Also 4–6 violett, 5 vyolet(te, vyelett, vialet, 6 violitt. [a. OF. violet, vielet, villet (mod.F. violet) adj.: see VIOLET sb.–1 Cf. It. violette, Pg. violete.]
1. Having the color of violets; of a blue or bluish-purple color.
In early use only of woven fabrics.
1370. Bury Wills (Camden), 5. j violett toga.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 509/2. Vialet, yn colowre, violaceus.
1464. Maldon (Essex) Court Rolls Bundle 40, No. 6. ii togas blewe et vyolette, 1 dobelet.
c. 1481. Cely Papers (Camden), 202. Item iij stykkes of tarny sateyn or els vyelett sateyn of Bruges.
1524. Lincoln Wills (1914), I. 130. A violitt reband with silver aglyttes.
1544. Knaresborough Wills (Surtees), I. 34. To Agnes Gill my violett kirtell.
1579. Reg. Privy Council Scot., III. 195. Thre single pandis, freinyeit with violet silk.
c. 1620. Moryson, Itin., IV. V. i. (1903), 438. Next rode some 20. of the Pope’s Chamberlayns and cheefe officers, cloathed in gownes of violett Cloth.
1812. Sir H. Davy, Chem. Philos., 223. The luminous particles at the violet end of the spectrum.
1857. Miller, Elem. Chem., Org., viii. 537. Boiling nitric acid colours it violet.
1884. Marq. Dufferin, in Lyall, Life (1905), II. 64. Directly fronting you, rises a magnificent violet stretch of mountain.
b. Qualifying colour, hue, tint, etc.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xvii. 80. Men find dyamaundz of violet colour.
1548. Cooper, Elyot’s Dict., Violarius, he that dieth violet colour.
1601. Holland, Pliny, II. 621. There is not one of these Ameythysts, but it is transparent with a Violet colour.
1622–3. Essex Archdeaconry Depositions Bk. (MS.), 27 Feb., 26. One cloake for a man made of broade cloath and of a violett couler.
1648. Hexham, II. Een Violette verwe, a Violet Dye or colour.
1706. London & Wise, Retir’d Gard., I. ix. 41. The Maugeron is [a plum] of a Violet Colour, large and round.
1750. trans. Leonardus’ Mirr. Stones, 79. The carbuncle brandishes its fiery rays, of a violet colour, on every side.
1800. trans. Lagrange’s Chem., I. 419. Hydrogen gas alters the colour of bismuth, and gives it a violet tint.
1834. J. Forbes, Laennec’s Dis. Chest (ed. 4), 465. The lung … was of a violet hue, soft and flabby.
a. 1878. W. Carleton, Farm Ballads (1893), 84. The squire swore oaths of a violet hue.
c. Qualifying names of other colors, as violet black, blue, etc.
In later use frequently hyphened (cf. next), and in some cases (esp. violet-blue) also repr. the sb. used attrib.
1728. Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Red, In Limning, and Fresco, for a Violet Red,… they use a natural Earth found in England.
1782. Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, I. II. 754. The quills of a violet brown.
1819. Stephens, Shaw’s Gen. Zool., XI. I. 3. The wings … are of a fine deep violet-blue.
1843. Florist’s Jrnl. (1846), IV. 111. Flower-spike producing three to four flowers, and very handsome, of a beautiful violet-purple.
1882. Garden, 17 June, 418/1. The petals … bordered with violet-crimson.
d. Forming adj. combs., as violet-black, -blue, etc.
Many examples occur in Shaw’s Gen. Zool.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 394. From one Root the rising Stem bestows A Wood of Leaves, and Vi’let-purple Boughs.
1753. Chambers’ Cycl., Suppl., s.v. Star-wort, The tall hairy New England aster with very large violet-purple flowers.
1802. Shaw, Gen. Zool., III. II. 423. Violet-black Snake, with the abdomen and sides crimson.
1819. Stephens, Ibid., XI. I. 59. The upper parts of the body [are] violet-red.
1838. T. Thomson, Chem. Org. Bodies, 746. The whole liquid assumes a very strong and fine violet-blue colour.
1887. W. Phillips, Brit. Discomycetes, 70. Hymenium violet-brown; juice violet.
2. a. In names of varieties of fruits or plants, as violet clover, maize, plum, etc. Also ellipt.
1706. London & Wise, Retir’d Gard., I. 147. The Fourth [kind is] the Violet Fig. Ibid. The Violet ripens perfectly well.
a. 1722. Lisle, Husb. (1757), 379. A violet-plum, a standard,… which is a plum that does not cleave from the stone.
1725. Fam. Dict., s.v. Plum, The Violet Damson or Maugeron Plum.
1760–72. trans. Juan & Ulloa’s Voy. (ed. 3), II. 140. They first pulverize the cochineal by grinding, and after mixing four ounces of it, with twelve of violet maize, they form it into square cakes.
1786. Abercrombie, Arrangem., 13, in Gard. Assist. Cherry plum, Violet plum, Apricot plum.
1860. Hogg, Fruit Man., 72. Figs…. Skin dark. Flesh red…. Early Violet, Malta. Ibid., 251. Purple Gage (… Violet Gage).
1867. Chambers’s Encycl., IX. 803/2. The Violet Moss (Byssus Iolithus) … was formerly in use as a popular remedy for feverish cutaneous eruptions.
1890. Times, 22 Sept., 4/2. The cut of violet clovers in France is not likely to be large.
b. In names of birds, insects, etc., as violet bee, cormorant, crab, creeper, heron, etc.; violet-ear, one or other species of the genus Petasophora of humming-birds; violet-fly, an artificial fly used in angling; violet-tip, an American butterfly (see quot.).
Latham’s names are repeated in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. (1811–26).
1845. Encycl. Metrop., XIV. 153/1. A *violet bee, which they now sent off [from the balloon], flew quickly away with its usual humming noise.
c. 1882. Cassell’s Nat. Hist., V. 367. The Violet Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa violacea) … inhabits the south of Europe.
1785. Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, III. II. 600. *Violet Corvorant…. This bird is said to be wholly black, glossed with violet.
1826. Stephens, Shaw’s Gen. Zool., XIII. I. 86. Violet Cormorant, Phalacrocorax violaceus.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1824), III. 86. The *Violet Crab of the Carribee Islands.
1895. Pall Mall G., 26 July, 2/3. The much advertised land-crabs are precisely the same ‘violet crab’ … found on similar tropical islands.
1782. Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, I. II. 705. *Violet Creeper.
1861. Gould, Trochilidæ, IV. Pl. 223. Brazilian *Violet-ear. Ibid., Pl. 226. Mexican Violet-ear.
1887. R. B. Sharpe, Gould’s Trochilidæ, Suppl. V. Pl. 1. Petasophora Germana, Guiana Violet-ear.
1676. Cotton, Walton’s Angler, II. vii. (1875), 255. A fly called the *Violet-Fly; made of a dark violet stuff; with the wings, of a grey feather of a mallard.
1787. Best, Angling (ed. 2), 101. The Violet fly…. Dubbed with dark violet stuff, and a little dun bear’s hair mixed with it.
1832. Lytton, Eugene A., I. ix. The old Corporal … busily employed in fixing to his line … what anglers … call the ‘violet-fly.’
1815. Stephens, Shaw’s Gen. Zool., IX. II. 249. *Violet Grosbeak, with a streak above the eyes.
1785. Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, III. I. 97. *Violet Heron,… of a blueish black, glossed with violet. Ibid. (1782), I. II. 756. *Violet Humming Bird;… the whole head, the neck, back, breast, and belly, of a violet purple.
1864–5. J. G. Wood, Homes without H., iv. (1868), 88. The *Violet Land Crab of Jamaica (Gecarcinus ruricola) is the most familiar of these creatures.
1832. J. Rennie, Consp. Butterfl. & M., 205. The *Violet Pygmy (Microsetia violaceella). Wings:… first pair deep black, with a tinge of violet.
1785. Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, III. II. 600. *Violet Shag. Violet Corvorant.
1858. Baird, Cycl. Nat. Sci., 307/2. Janthina. The *Violet Shells.—A genus of molluscous animals belonging to the class Gasteropoda.
1845. Gosse, Ocean, vii. (1849), 343. The *Violet-snail (Janthina fragilis),… whose shell … is of a pearly white above, and beneath violet.
1873. Dawson, Earth & Man, iv. 76. Those singular molluscous swimmers by fin or float known to zoologists as violet-snails.
1783. Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, II. II. 574. *Violet Swallow,… general colour of the plumage deep blue, reflecting violet in different tints. Ibid., I. 222. *Violet Tanager,… colour of the plumage a deep violet. Ibid., 57. *Violet Thrush,… the whole plumage of a changeable violet blue.
1881. S. H. Scudder, Butterflies, 167. The most conspicuous case [of dimorphism] is in the largest, the *Violet-Tip (Polygoniainterrogationis), where the two forms were once universally considered distinct species.
c. With names of minerals, etc.
1796. Kirwan, Elem. Min. (ed. 2), II. 280. Violet Cobalt ore.
1839. De la Beche, Rep. Geol. Cornwall, etc., xv. 497. The violet rock crystal, or amethyst, seems scarce.
1867. Chambers’s Encycl., IX. 803/2. Violet Stones,… certain stones found upon high mountains, as in Thuringia,… which, in consequence of being covered with … Violet Moss, emit a smell like that of violets.
1871. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., June, 335. Violet ebony is used for making inlaid chairs.
3. In parasynthetic combs., as violet-eared, -headed, -hooded, -horned, -ringed, etc.
1782. Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, I. II. 767. *Violet-Eared Humming Bird:… beneath the ears, is a very splendid violet spot.
1898. Daily News, 12 Feb., 6/3. Violet-eared waxbills, African firefinches, black-crested yellow bulbuls.
1782. Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, I. II. 718. *Violet-Headed Creeper, Certhia violacea.
1815. Stephens, Shaw’s Gen. Zool., IX. I. 8. Violet-headed Curucui (Trogon violaceus).
1847. Tennyson, Princ., II. 354. With scraps of thundrous Epic lilted out By *violet-hooded Doctors.
1822. Hortus Angl., II. 10. *Violet-horned Poppy.
1880. A. H. Swinton, Insect Variety, 4. A *violet-ringed Oak Eggar caterpillar.
1821. Shelley, Epipsych., 69. Art thou not … A *violet-shrouded grave of Woe? Ibid. (a. 1822), Death Adonis, 4. Wake *violet-stoled queen, and weave the crown Of Death.
1786. Abercrombie, Arrangem., 77, in Gard. Assist. White, *violet striped [tulip].
1803. Shaw, Gen. Zool., IV. II. 382. Violet-striped Acanthurus. Acanthurus Sohal.
1782. Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, I. II. 754. *Violet Tailed Humming Bird.
1811. Shaw, Gen. Zool., VII. I. 208. *Violet-throated Creeper, Certhia affinis.
