Purfle

//ˈpɜːfəl// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An ornamental border on clothing, furniture or a violin; beading, stringing.

    "the messager came for kyng Arthurs berd / For kyng Ryons had purfyled a mantel with kynges berdes /[…]/ wherfor he sente for his berd or els he wold entre in to his landes /[…]/ & neuer leue tyl he haue the hede and the berd / wel sayd Arthur thow hast said thy message / the whiche is the most vylaynous and lewdest message that euer man herd sente vnto a kynge / Also thow mayst see / my berd is ful yong yet to make a purfyl of hit"

  2. 2
    An ornamental border, edge, or line of a different tincture or material.

    "Adumbration (or Transparency) is a clear Exemption of the Substance of the Charge, so that there remaineth only the outward Strokes or Purfle of a Thing;"

Verb
  1. 1
    To decorate (wood, cloth etc.) with a purfle or ornamental border; to border. archaic, transitive

    "And this was his message gretynge wel kynge Arthur in this manere wyse sayenge / that kynge Ryons had discomfyte and ouercome xj kynges /[…]/ they gaf hym their berdys clene flayne[…]/ wher for the messager came for kyng Arthurs berd / For kyng Ryons had purfyled a mantel with kynges berdes / and there lacked one place of the mantel"

  2. 2
    To ornament with purfle. transitive

    "Crest; a dragon passant proper, wings elevated and purfled gules."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Old French porfiler, from Latin pro- + filum (“thread”). Doublet of profile.

Etymology 2

From Old French porfiler, from Latin pro- + filum (“thread”). Doublet of profile.

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