purl

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Etymology uncertain; apparently related to Scots and dialect pirl ("twist, ripple, whirl, spin"), and possibly to Older Scots pyrl ("thrust or poke at"). Compare Venetian pirlo, an embellishment where the woven threads are twisted together. May be unrelated to purfle, though the meanings are similar.

Noun

purl (plural purls)

  1. A particular stitch in knitting.
  2. The edge of lace trimmed with loops.
Translations
a particular stitch in knitting

Verb

purl (third-person singular simple present purls, present participle purling, simple past and past participle purled)

  1. To decorate with fringe or embroidered edge
    Needlework purled with gold.
  2. (knitting) an inverted stitch producing ribbing etc
    Knit one, purl two.

Etymology 2

from Middle English pirle (“whirligig”), Middle Italian pirla (“whipping top”)

Noun

purl (plural purls)

  1. a heavy or headlong fall; an upset.

Verb

purl (third-person singular simple present purls, present participle purling, simple past and past participle purled)

  1. (archaic) To upset, to spin, capsize, fall heavily, fall headlong.
    The huntsman was purled from his horse.
Related terms

Etymology 3

From Old Norse purla (“to babble”)

Verb

purl (third-person singular simple present purls, present participle purling, simple past and past participle purled)

  1. (intransitive) To flow with a murmuring sound in swirls and eddies.

Noun

purl (plural purls)

  1. (UK, dialect) A circle made by the motion of a fluid; an eddy; a ripple.
    • Drayton
      Whose stream an easy breath doth seem to blow, / Which on the sparkling gravel runs in purles, / As though the waves had been of silver curls.
  2. (UK, dialect) A gentle murmuring sound, such as that produced by the running of a liquid among obstructions.
    the purl of a brook

Etymology 4

Possibly from the pearl-like appearance caused by bubbles on the surface of the liquid.

Noun

purl (uncountable)

  1. (archaic) Ale or beer spiced with wormwood or other bitter herbs, regarded as a tonic.
    • The Spectator, number 88
      A double mug of purle.
  2. (archaic) Hot beer mixed with gin, sugar, and spices.
    • Addison
      Drank a glass of purl to recover appetite.
    • Charles Dickens
      Drinking hot purl, and smoking pipes.

Etymology 5

Noun

purl (plural purls)

  1. (UK, dialect) A tern.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Anagrams

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Last modified on 20 May 2013, at 20:19