COLOR YOUR WORLD is a series of threads to provide lists of synonyms for different colors. All too often, writers resort to using the same word for a color repeatedly in their writing, leading to a sometimes boring redundancy which can lend itself to making the story uninteresting at worst, ho-hum at best.
This thread series will give you more options to choose from to keep your color references fresh and inviting.
According to www.colormatters.com : “Purple’s rarity in nature and the expense of creating the color and has given purple a supernatural aura for centuries. Purple is also the most powerful wavelength of the rainbow – and it’s 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. If we go back to our pre-historic existence, our ancestors probably never saw a purple fruit, flower, bird, fish – or any living thing – because purple is very rare in nature. This is hard to imagine in today’s connected world.
As civilizations developed, so did clothing and colored dyes. The earliest purple dyes date back to about 1900 B.C. It took some 12,000 shellfish 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.
Over the course of history, purple pigments and dyes became less costly and complex, but one thing has remained the same: Purple symbolizes nobility and luxury to most people in the world. Today, science has revealed much more about purple than our ancestors ever realized: Purple is the most powerful visible wavelength of electromagnetic energy. It’s just a few steps away from x-rays and gamma rays.
Perhaps this explains why purple is associated with supernatural energy and the cosmos than with the physical world as we know it.
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 of mourning.
Purple’s global similarities are significant:
Purple tends to be a color that 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 (U.K., Italy, Thailand, Brazil)
Purple is not a common flag color. Only two flags contain purple.
Unique Meanings of Purple in Different Cultures
The “Purple Heart” is the American award for bravery.
Purple is a symbolic color for the gay community in many Western cultures.
Purple is the color of popular children’s television characters – “Barney” and “Tinky Winky” (the purple Teletubby from the BBC).
In Italy most performing artists would not go on stage if they have to wear anything purple.”
Given the complexities of this color, it can be a fantastic world building tool. Below you will find a list of the varying shades of this fantastic color to use in Building your 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
Fuchsia (Crayola)
Grape
Halayà úbe
Heather
Heliotrope
Imperial
Imperial purple
Japanese violet
Jazzberry jam
Lavender (floral)
Lavender purple
Light medium orchid
Light pastel purple
Lilac
Magenta
Magenta (Crayola)
Magenta (dye)
Magenta (Pantone)
Magenta (process)
Mardi Gras
Mauve
Mauve taupe
Medium lavender magenta
Medium orchid
Medium purple
Medium violet-red
Mountbatten pink
Mulberry
Old lavender
Old mauve
Opera mauve
Orchid
Palatinate purple
Pale lavender
Pale magenta
Pale plum
Pale red-violet
Pale violet-red
Pansy purple
Pastel magenta
Pastel purple
Pastel violet
Patriarch
Pearly purple
Petunia
Phlox
Plum
Plum (web)
Pomp and Power
Psychedelic purple
Puce
Purple
Purple (Munsell)
Purple (X11)
Purple Heart
Purple mountain majesty
Purple pizzazz
Purple taupe
Purpureus
Razzmic Berry
Red-violet
Rich brilliant lavender
Rich lavender
Rich lilac
Royal fuchsia
Royal purple
Russian violet
Sky magenta
True Purple
Twilight lavender
Tyrian purple
Veronica
Violet
Violet (color wheel)
Violet (RYB)
Violet (web)
Vivid orchid
Vivid violet
Wisteria
To see what each shade actually looks like you can visit the original list site at:http://shadesofpurple.facts.co/shadesofpurplecolornames.php