periwinkle
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periwinkle¹
- /ˈpɛɹ.ɪˌwɪŋ.kəl/ UK, US
Where it comes from
Diminutive of Middle English perwinke, from Old English perfince, perwince (compare Middle High German berwinke), from Latin pervinca (compare French pervenche, Italian pervinca).
noun periwinkles
-
Any of several evergreen plants of the genus Vinca with blue or white flowers.
The Periwinkle is a great binder, staying bleeding both at mouth and nose if some of the leaves be chewed.
Similar: myrtle, vinca, creeping myrtle
- Similar plants of genus Catharanthus.
- A color with bluish and purplish hues, somewhat light. And although we’ve certainly seen a variety of blue shades — from periwinkle to cobalt and even Dean Cain’s indigo-washed costume from the 1990’s TV show “Lois & Clark” — Superman’s uniform is still instantly recognizable across generations. In fact, there is only one film — Zack Snyder’s 2013 “Man
adjective more periwinkle · most periwinkle
- Of pale bluish purple colour.
periwinkle²
- /ˈpɛɹ.ɪˌwɪŋ.kəl/ UK, US
Where it comes from
From Middle English [Term?], alteration of *pinewinkle (compare English dialectal pennywinkle), from Old English pīnewincle, compound of Latin pīna (“kind of mussel”), itself from Ancient Greek πίνη (pínē), variant of πίννα (pínna, “mussel”)) and Old English wincel (“corner”) (compare dialectal Danish vinkel (“snail shell”)). More at winch and wink.
noun periwinkles
-
A mollusk of family Littorinidae.
He was working a pin into a periwinkle shell, turning it to extract the toothsome morsel of meat.
Similar: winkle
- A caddisfly larva.
Translations
Talk about this word "periwinkle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/periwinkle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. periwinkle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/periwinkle "periwinkle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/periwinkle.Cite this
@misc{periwinkle_2026,
title = {periwinkle},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/periwinkle},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
