purlieu
/ˈpɝl(j)u/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.12 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Whether Lady Anne knew or suspected who it was that drew his steps from the purlieus of fashion he knew not, nor held himself bound to explain."
- "Bred up, like a bailiff or a shabby attorney, about the purlieus of the Inns of Court, Shepherd’s Inn is always to be found in the close neighbourhood of Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, and the Temple."
- "He seemed to wish to keep hold of him, and looked at him strangely, over his spectacles... when he learned that Hyacinth had taken a lodging not in their old familiar quarter but in the unexplored purlieus of Westminster."
- "Wide blank courtyards surround the walls of this marvel, a little town hangs respectfully about its purlieus, and from far away across the plain, even from the streets of Madrid herself, you can see it brooding there on the edge of the mountains, looking at once holy, menacing and obsessed."
- "The mission occupied eight or ten ares of land, a barren purlieu that held a few goats and burros."
- "I wanted a beer, but coffee was undeniably easier to be had in the purlieus of the University, so we went into a cafe."
Etymology
From Middle English purlewe (“piece of land on the edge of a forest”), modification under the influence of Old French lieu (“place”) of porale, purale (“royal perambulation”), from Old French porale, from poraler (“to traverse”), from por- (“forth”) (from Latin prō-) + aler, aller (“to go”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: purlewe, porale, prō-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɝl(j)u/
- British English: /ˈpɜːljuː/