Unknown; apparently related to Scots and dialect pirl (“twist, ripple, whirl, spin”), and possibly to Older Scots pyrl ("thrust or poke at"). Compare Venetan pirlo, an embellishment where the woven threads are twisted together. May be unrelated to purfle, though the meanings are similar.
Meanings
A particular stitch in knitting in which the working yarn is pulled through an existing stitch from front to back.
The edge of lace trimmed with loops.
An embroidered and puckered border; a hem or fringe, often of gold or silver twist; also, a pleat or fold, as of a band.
A triumphant chariot made of carnation velvet, enriched with purl and pearl. a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
purls
Number=Plur
lexicographic
Translations (12)
hu fordított szem (a particular stitch in knitting) · it punto rovescio (a particular stitch in knitting) · it rovescio (a particular stitch in knitting) · bg опако (a particular stitch in knitting) · ga lúb iompaithe (a particular stitch in knitting) · fr maille à l’envers (a particular stitch in knitting) · gv lhoob bun ry skyn (a particular stitch in knitting) · pt ponto tricô (a particular stitch in knitting) · de linke Masche (a particular stitch in knitting) · nl averecht (a particular stitch in knitting) · fi nurja silmukka (a particular stitch in knitting) · cs oko obrace (a particular stitch in knitting)
Unknown; apparently related to Scots and dialect pirl (“twist, ripple, whirl, spin”), and possibly to Older Scots pyrl ("thrust or poke at"). Compare Venetan pirlo, an embellishment where the woven threads are twisted together. May be unrelated to purfle, though the meanings are similar.
Meanings
To decorate with fringe or embroidered edge
Needlework purled with gold.
To use or create a purl stitch or stitches.
Knit one, purl two.
Stockinette fabric is created by knitting the right-side rows and purling the wrong-side rows.
From Old Norse purla (“to babble”), possibly ultimately from an imitative Germanic base related to Dutch polder, Norwegian puldra (“to gush”) and pulla (“to bubble”), Old English polr (“marsh”).
Meanings
(UK, dialectal) A circle made by the motion of a fluid; an eddy; a ripple.
Caiſters ſiluer Lake, / […] / VVhoſe ſtreame an eaſie breath doth ſeeme to blovve; / VVhich on the ſparkling grauell runns in purles, / As though the vvaues had been of ſiluer curles. [1596], Michaell Drayton [i.e., Michael Drayton], Mortimeriados. The Lamentable Ciuell Warres of Edward the Second and the Barrons, London: […] I. R. for Humfry Lownes, […], →OCLC, signature Q, recto:
Whatsoever had a beginning, can also have an ending; and it shall die, unless it be daily watered with the purls flowing from the fountain of life, and refreshed with the dew of heaven, and the wells of God: […] 1668, “Twenty-seven Sermons Preached at Golden Grove; Being for the Summer Half-year, […]: Sermon VIII. A Funeral Sermon, &c.”, in Reginald Heber, editor, The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. […], volume VI, London: Ogle, Duncan, and Co. […]; and Richard Priestley, […], published 1822, →OCLC, page 453:
(UK, dialectal) A gentle murmuring sound, such as that produced by the running of a liquid among obstructions.
From Old Norse purla (“to babble”), possibly ultimately from an imitative Germanic base related to Dutch polder, Norwegian puldra (“to gush”) and pulla (“to bubble”), Old English polr (“marsh”).
Meanings
(intransitive) To flow with a murmuring sound in swirls and eddies.
A little creek purled down from the mountain over stones[.] 1973, Patsy Adam Smith, The Barcoo Salute, Adelaide: Rigby, page 39:
There is a water-break formed by a small terrace of rock in mid-stream, and purling with a hollow, delicious monotone—an island of pebbles is above, with here and there smaller ones near the "forks." 1846 October, Alfred B[illings] Street, “A Day’s Hunting about the Mongaup”, in George R[ex] Graham, editor, Graham’s American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art, volume XXIX, number 4, Philadelphia, Pa.: George R. Graham & Co., […], →OCLC, page 190:
Swift o'er the rolling pebbles, down the hills, / Louder and louder purl the falling rills. 1715–1720, Homer, “Book XXI”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:
At seven minutes past four, while a Bach sonata was purling under the din of the crowd, the President's reaching hand was struck aside, and a man lurched forward. Two shots cracked sharply. There was a moment of dead silence. 1959, Margaret Leech, “Appointment at Buffalo”, in In the Days of McKinley, New York: Harper & Brothers, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 595:
[T]he road purled out ahead of us for miles, all prospect and promise, like the beginning of a long, good friendship. 2023 October 23, Murr Brewster, “Grizzlies and caribou and wolves, oh my! Savoring Denali’s delights.”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
To rise in circles, ripples, or undulations; to curl; to mantle.
thin winding breath which purled up to the sky 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC:
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
purled
Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part
lexicographic
purled
Tense=Past
lexicographic
purls
Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres
lexicographic
purling
Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part
lexicographic
Translations (9)
uk дзюркоті́ти (to make the sound of gently running water) · izh šolissa (to make the sound of gently running water) · ru журчать (to make the sound of gently running water) · mi hīwawā (to make the sound of gently running water) · uk журча́ти (to make the sound of gently running water) · eo lirli (to make the sound of gently running water) · uk дзюрча́ти (to make the sound of gently running water) · bg ромоля (to make the sound of gently running water) · uk дзюркота́ти (to make the sound of gently running water)
Possibly from the pearl-like appearance caused by bubbles on the surface of the liquid.
Meanings
(UK, archaic, dialectal, uncountable) Ale or beer spiced with wormwood or other bitter herbs, regarded as a tonic.
A double mug of purle. 1711, The Spectator, number 88:
(UK, archaic, dialectal, uncountable) Hot beer mixed with gin, sugar, and spices.
Drank a glass of purl to recover appetite. 1712 March 14 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “MONDAY, March 4, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 317; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume IV, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
Drinking hot purl, and smoking pipes. 1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 60.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC: