purfle

noun

1. An ornamental border on clothing, furniture or a violin; beading, stringing.

   “the messager came for kyng Arthurs berd / For kyng Ryons had purfyled a mantel with kynges berdes /[…]/ wherfor he sente for his berd or els he wold entre in to his landes /[…]/ & neuer leue tyl he haue the hede and the berd / wel sayd Arthur thow hast said thy message / the whiche is the most vylaynous and lewdest message that euer man herd sente vnto a kynge / Also thow mayst see / my berd is ful yong yet to make a purfyl of hit”

2. An ornamental border, edge, or line of a different tincture or material.

   “Adumbration (or Transparency) is a clear Exemption of the Substance of the Charge, so that there remaineth only the outward Strokes or Purfle of a Thing;”

   “Cross […] has its extremities ending in a flower of three leaves, or flower-de-luces, with a purfle, or line between them and the ends of the cross.”

verb

1. (archaic, transitive)To decorate (wood, cloth etc.) with a purfle or ornamental border; to border.

   “And this was his message gretynge wel kynge Arthur in this manere wyse sayenge / that kynge Ryons had discomfyte and ouercome xj kynges /[…]/ they gaf hym their berdys clene flayne[…]/ wher for the messager came for kyng Arthurs berd / For kyng Ryons had purfyled a mantel with kynges berdes / and there lacked one place of the mantel”

   “He had a faire companion of his way, / A goodly Lady, clad in ſcarlot red, / Purfled with gold and pearle of rich aſſay, […]”

   “It came to pass on a certain day, as he stood about the street leaning idly upon his crate, behold, there stood before him an honourable woman in a mantilla of Mosul silk, broidered with gold and bordered with brocade; her walking shoes were also purfled with gold and her hair floated in long plaits.”

   “Remembering the exchange now, Dickie smiled that winning southern-boy smile. Then he went glum again. He thumped the purfled sound board.”

2. (transitive)To ornament with purfle.

   “Crest; a dragon passant proper, wings elevated and purfled gules.”