Purple is a color created by mixing red and blue, sitting between them on the color spectrum. You see purple in grape juice, eggplants, lavender flowers, and amethyst gemstones.

Throughout history, purple held special meaning because it was incredibly difficult and expensive to make. Ancient civilizations extracted purple dye from thousands of sea snails to color just a small piece of cloth. This made purple so costly that only emperors, kings, and the wealthiest nobles could afford purple robes. Even today, we associate purple with royalty and luxury because of this history.

The word can also describe writing that's overly fancy or dramatic. When a student uses too many big words and flowery phrases in an essay, trying too hard to sound impressive, a teacher might call it purple prose. Like wearing a crown to the grocery store, purple prose draws attention to itself in a way that feels overdone.

People use “purple” in other expressions too. A Purple Heart is a military medal given to soldiers wounded in combat. When someone is so angry their face turns reddish-blue, we might say they're purple with rage.