Purple
purple (adjective, colour term; synonym: cardinal red, cochenille-red, carmine, scarlet, crimson) – a very deep violet-red, i. e., a strongly saturated magenta, i. e., a magenta with intense chroma. The colour purple was originally obtained from oxidation of a yellowish liquid isolated from the gland of the maritime Mediterranean snail Murex trunculus L. Traditionally only kings and cardinals could afford the extremely expensive dye for their coats, thus the name cardinal-red. As alternative, orchil, a dye giving a similar but less expensive colour, was achieved by the fermentation of various lichen species. Another, less expensive alternative to generate a similar colour was the dye cochineal, attained from scale insects parasitizing vascular plants.
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