ˈpurple-heart
Also as one word or two separate words.
[f. purple a. + heart n.]
1. a. A large tree of the genus Peltogyne, belonging to the family Leguminosæ and native to areas of tropical rain forest in Central and South America and the West Indies; also, the dark purplish-brown timber of this tree. Also attrib.
| 1796 Stedman Surinam II. 17 The purple-heart-tree grows sometimes to the height of fourscore feet..; the wood is of a beautiful purple colour. 1825 C. Waterton Wanderings in S. Amer. 24 Wallaba, purple-heart,..and mora, are met with in vast abundance, far and near, towering up in majestic grandeur. 1845 Lindley Veg. Kingd. (1846) 550 The Purple Heart, a Guiana timber tree of great toughness, whose timber is found invaluable for resisting the shock of artillery discharges. 1902 G. S. Boulger Wood i. v. 99 Hepplewhite and Sheraton employed Mahogany..for small articles such as tea-caddies, whilst in the inlaid work of the period it was used..with other dark woods, such as Rosewood, Laburnum, and Purple-heart. 1924 Record & Mell Timbers Trop. Amer. ii. 235 There is considerable variation in the size, abundance, and arrangement of the pores in different specimens of purpleheart. 1947 J. C. Rich Materials & Methods of Sculpture x. 285 Amaranth wood or Purpleheart is a rich, violet-colored, tropical hardwood imported from the Guianas. 1951 J. C. Fennessy Sonnet in Bottle vi. i. 200 There were no tall trees, no soaring palms or smooth-stemmed purplehearts. 1951 Archit. Rev. CIX. 288 Floors are in polished purple⁓heart hardwood. 1956 Handbk. of Hardwoods (Forest Prod. Res. Lab.) 193 The different species of purpleheart vary in size at maturity. 1959 P. Capon Amongst those Missing 215, I haven't noticed any purpleheart trees about. 1963 Times 26 Jan. 4/2 A nineteenth-century kingwood commode.., its sides inlaid with chrysanthemum branches in purpleheart, made {pstlg}280. 1974 Country Life 30 May 1338/1 A second [chest], walnut with panels and banding in purple heart, ebony and ivory. |
b. An evergreen tree of the genus Copaifera, belonging to the family Leguminosæ and native to tropical America or the West Indies.
| 1866 Treas. Bot. 1963 Robertson & Gooding Bot. for Caribbean xxiii. 186 Purple-heart (Copaifera pubiflora). |
2. U.S. (In form Purple Heart.) A decoration bestowed on a member of the armed services wounded in action. Also more fully, Purple Heart Award.
A decoration consisting of a heart-shaped piece of purple cloth was instituted by George Washington in 1782, but later fell into disuse. The present bronze enamelled medal was instituted in 1932.
| 1932 Army & Navy Jrnl. 27 Feb. 602/4 Awards of the Purple Heart for acts or service performed prior to Feb. 22, 1932, will be confined to the following persons. 1948 E. E. Cummings Let. 27 Aug. (1969) 185 The hyper⁓scientific climax of this hero (a prominent killer, holder of Silver Stars & Clusters & Purple Hearts galore)'s experience. 1974 Sumter (S. Carolina) Daily Item 23 Apr. 4a/4 He is a recipient of the Purple Heart Award and Army Commendation Medal. 1977 J. Wambaugh Black Marble (1978) ii. 15 Mason returned to Pasadena wearing a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. |
3. Usu. pl. A familiar term for tablets of the stimulant Drinamyl, so named because of their shape and colour. Also attrib.
| 1961 [see Drinamyl]. 1962 Daily Tel. 31 Aug. 21/1 People involved in the investigation had already had ‘purple heart’ tablets prescribed for them by their own doctors. 1964 [see dexamphetamine]. 1968 Times 30 Nov. 4/7 A mixture of the stimulant amphetamine and the depressant amylobarbitone... A similar mixture of drugs was popular a few years ago in the guise of ‘purple hearts’. 1971 N. Stacey Who Cares? xvi. 276 They became more responsible, they took more interest in life, they stopped taking purple hearts and they settled down in their homes, their schools and their jobs. 1973 H. Miller Open City xvi. 179 Drugs. Purple Hearts, amphetamines. The bloke was passing the stuff to kids. |