purlieu

[ pur-loo, purl-yoo ]

noun

1. purlieus, environs or neighborhood.
2. a place where one may range at large; confines or bounds.
3. a person's haunt or resort.
4. an outlying district or region, as of a town or city.
5. a piece of land on the edge of a forest, originally land that, after having been included in a royal forest, was restored to private ownership, though still subject, in some respects, to the operation of the forest laws.

purlieu

/ ˈpɜːljuː /

noun

1. English history land on the edge of a forest that was once included within the bounds of the royal forest but was later separated although still subject to some of the forest laws, esp regarding hunting
2. usually plural a neighbouring area; outskirts
3. often plural a place one frequents; haunt
4. rare.
   a district or suburb, esp one that is poor or squalid

Word History and Origins

Origin of purlieu¹

1475–85; alteration (simulating French lieu place) of earlier parlewe, parley, paraley purlieu of a forest < Anglo-French purale ( e ) a going through, equivalent to pur (< Latin prō for, pro ¹, confused with per through) + aller ( alley ¹ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of purlieu¹

C15 purlewe, from Anglo-French puralé a going through (influenced also by Old French lieu place), from Old French puraler to traverse, from pur through + aler to go

Example Sentences

Inside the Beltway humbly consults the Merriam Webster dictionary to reveal that “purlieus” — the plural form of the noun “purlieu” — means “hangout” or “stomping ground.”

From Washington Times

“Way out here one gets that wicked city idea about New York & all those purlieus,” he writes to the dancer Nelson Barclift, from his cottage in Williamstown.

From The New Yorker

In more sensible purlieus, it might just be that pressure on Senate Republicans, who can see polling sliding against Trump and their party, pays off with actual progress.

From The Guardian

Or a cumulative juggernaut that is operating outside the purlieus of human agency.

From New York Times

The pigs were driven into the purlieus of the forest, where boys beat the trees to supply them with acorns.

From Literature

Related Words

• hangout
• haunt
• resort