purl

Etymology 1

Unknown; apparently related to Scots and dialect pirl (“twist, ripple, whirl, spin”), and possibly to Older Scots pyrl ("thrust or poke at"). Compare Venetian pirlo, an embellishment where the woven threads are twisted together. May be unrelated to purfle, though the meanings are similar.

noun

1. A particular stitch in knitting; an inversion of stitches giving the work a ribbed or waved appearance.
2. The edge of lace trimmed with loops.
3. An embroidered and puckered border; a hem or fringe, often of gold or silver twist; also, a pleat or fold, as of a band.

verb

1. To decorate with fringe or embroidered edge
   Needlework purled with gold.
2. (knitting) To use an inverted stitch producing ribbing etc.
   Knit one, purl two.

Etymology 2

from Middle English pirle (“whirligig”), Middle Italian pirla (“whipping top”).

noun

1. a heavy or headlong fall; an upset.

verb

1. (archaic) To upset, to spin, capsize, fall heavily, fall headlong.
   The huntsman was purled from his horse.

Etymology 3

From Old Norse purla (“to babble”), possibly ultimately from an imitative Germanic base related to Dutch polder, Norwegian puldra (“to gush”) and pulla (“to bubble”), Old English polr (“marsh”).

verb

1. (intransitive) To flow with a murmuring sound in swirls and eddies.
   There is a water-break formed by a small terrace of rock in mid-stream, and purling with a hollow, delicious monotone—an island of pebbles is above, with here and there smaller ones near the "forks." 1846 October, Alfred B[illings] Street, “A Day’s Hunting about the Mongaup”, in George R[ex] Graham, editor, Graham’s American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art, volume XXIX, number 4, Philadelphia, Pa.: George R. Graham & Co.,[…], →OCLC, page 190
2. To rise in circles, ripples, or undulations; to curl; to mantle.

noun

1. A circle made by the motion of a fluid; an eddy; a ripple.
2. A gentle murmuring sound, such as that produced by the running of a liquid among obstructions.
   the purl of a brook

Etymology 4

Possibly from the pearl-like appearance caused by bubbles on the surface of the liquid.

noun

1. (archaic) Ale or beer spiced with wormwood or other bitter herbs, regarded as a tonic.
   A double mug of purle. 1711, The Spectator, number 88
2. (archaic) Hot beer mixed with gin, sugar, and spices.

Etymology 5

noun

1. (UK, dialect) A tern.