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purlieu

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L326140 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈpɜːljuː/ / /ˈpɝl(j)u/

noun

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”).

  1. The ground on the edges of a forest, especially when partly subject to the same forest laws concerning game hunting etc.
  2. The outskirts of any place; an adjacent district; the environs or neighborhood; milieu.

    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.