Standard Lemma guide

purpleheart

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A large tropical tree, of the genus Peltogyne, native to parts of South America and the West Indies

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The purplish heartwood of this tree, used to make furniture

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From purple + heart.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Portuguese: pau-violeta — a large tropical tree, of the genus Peltogyne, native to parts of South America and the West Indies
  • Portuguese: roxinho — a large tropical tree, of the genus Peltogyne, native to parts of South America and the West Indies
  • Portuguese: guarabu — a large tropical tree, of the genus Peltogyne, native to parts of South America and the West Indies
  • Portuguese: barabu — a large tropical tree, of the genus Peltogyne, native to parts of South America and the West Indies
  • Bulgarian: палисандър (palisandǎr) — the purplish heartwood of the purpleheart tree