1. having a purple color; resembling a violet. purple color; any of a number of herbaceous plants that usually have irregular purple flowers (but occasionally have white, blue, or yellow flowers). violetvio*let , a. [cf. f. violet. see: violet, n.] dark blue, inclining to red; bluish purple; having a color produced by red and blue combined.violet shell (zo?l.), any species of ianthina; -- called also violet snail. see: ianthina.violet wood, a name given to several kinds of hard purplish or reddish woods, as king wood, myall wood, and the wood of the andira violacea, a tree of guiana.violet vio*let , n. [f. violette a violet (cf. violet violet-colored), dim. of of. viole a violet, l. viola; akin to gr. . cf. iodine.]