pur-ple (pûrpl) n. 1. Any of a group of colours with a hue between that of violet and red. 2. Cloth of a colour between violet and red, formerly worn as a symbol of royalty or high office. 3. Imperial power; high rank: e.g born to the purple. 4. In the Roman Catholic Church, the rank or office of a cardinal or a bishop And now: 5. Those literary worlds visited by Iris Wildthyme where the prose is as sensual, convoluted and self-aggrandising as Iris herself...