born to the purple

adj

Etymology

Calque of Ancient Greek πορφυρογέννητος (porphurogénnētos); purple was a luxury color reserved for the Byzantine imperial family. In other kingdoms as well, purple has been traditionally associated with royalty; in some times and places this was because vibrant purple dyes were expensive.

Definitions

  1. Born and raised in a royal family.

    • No one had had any experience of an emperor like Commodus, a Caesar born to the purple.
  2. Of children, born of prominent or high-ranking parents.

    • Near-synonyms: to the manor born, born with a silver spoon in one's mouth

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for born to the purple. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA