Violetish

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A hue that displays a slight resemblance to violet while incorporating other colors into its composition
2. Characterizing a tone that suggests violet in its essence, combining elements from adjacent shades
3. Having a color that somewhat resembles violet but is not purely that shade

Etymology: "Violetish" is a plain formation: the noun "violet" with the suffix "-ish," meaning "somewhat like" or "tending toward." The suffix has a long pedigree of its own. It descends from a Proto-Germanic form, and in Old English it appeared as "-isc," which gave rise to modern "-ish" in Middle English, where it was attached to nouns to mean "of the nature of" or "somewhat like." The noun it attaches to has a more winding route. "Violet" traces back to Latin "viola," the name of the flower, which passed into Old French as "violete" (with the diminutive "-ette," marking a small flower) and then into Middle English as "violet." So the base word is a French-shaped diminutive of a Latin flower name, and "-ish" was then added to it in English.

Synonyms: purple, lavender, lilac, mauve, plum