Writers employ "violet" not only as a descriptor of a hue but also as a symbol that enriches both visual imagery and thematic nuance. It often appears to characterize delicate botanical elements and atmospheric details, as when it accentuates the fragile beauty of a flower or the soft glow of a twilight sky [1, 2, 3]. At the same time, violet is used in material descriptions—adorning garments, veils, and even sacred objects—to evoke regality or spiritual significance [4, 5, 6, 7]. Additionally, authors sometimes bestow the name Violet upon characters, thereby imbuing them with an air of sensitivity and complexity [8, 9]. Even scientific treatises draw upon the word to explain phenomena related to light and refraction, showcasing the word’s cross-genre versatility [10, 11, 12].
- "And these?" he said presently, pointing to the delicate violet bells that grew next the crimson ones.
— from Work: A Story of Experience by Louisa May Alcott
- A lovely violet growing upon one of those black slag-heaps of the mines would not have seemed more surprising.
— from The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle
- White mists were hovering in the silent hollows and violet stars were shining bluely on the brooklands.
— from Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery
- He made also a veil of violet, purple, scarlet, and silk: and wrought in it cherubims.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
- So he made an ephod of gold, violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen, 39:3.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
- And they shall wrap up the golden altar also in a cloth of violet, and shall spread over it a cover of violet skins, and put in the bars.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
- When this was done, Eugénie opened a drawer, of which she kept the key, and took from it a wadded violet silk travelling cloak.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet
- Of Jack and his wife, Violet, was born a mighty family, splendidly named: Harlow and Ira, Cloë, Lucinda, Maria, and Othello!
— from Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by W. E. B. Du Bois
- Mr Malone: if you go to Nice with Violet, you go with another man's wife.
— from Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy by Bernard Shaw
- At Q where the violet-making and indigo-making Rays are mixed, it must be a violet inclining much to indigo.
— from Opticks : by Isaac Newton
- So much sooner therefore did the Light in the violet end of the Image by a greater Refraction converge and meet, than the Light in the red end.
— from Opticks : by Isaac Newton
- This violet and blue, which should succeed this red, being mixed with, and hidden in it, there succeeds a green.
— from Opticks : by Isaac Newton