purplette

From purple +‎ -ette (diminutive suffix).

purplette (plural purplettes)

1. A small specialty onion with burgundy skin.
   • 2007 July 7, Laeticia Maklouf, “Salad roots manoeuvre”, in Malik Meer, editor, The Guardian, London, →ISSN, →OCLC, “Summer salad recipes” supplement, page 27, column 1:

     Salad onions (try Paris silver skin or purplette), perfect for slicing into a salad, as well as pickling, or baby leeks, great raw, steamed or stir-fried (try King Richard or atal) are ridiculously easy to grow.

   • 2008 November 15, Laurie Black, “A kitchen garden: real(food)handbook”, in The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, N.S.W., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 42:

     The yard is now almost entirely planted out in edibles. There are rare plants like golden marjoram, “social” garlic, shiso, white borage and four types of onion (red marble, purplette, cipolline, giant stemmed Japanese).

   • 2017 January 5, Maria Christina Rago, “Stuffed Nasturtiums”, in Organic Kitchen […], Simply Media, →ISBN:

     1/2 tbsp purplettes, green onions, or chives, minced

From purple +‎ -ette (“a person, especially a woman, with the specified hair color”), after brunette.

purplette (plural purplettes)

1. (chiefly fiction, rare) A purple-haired person, especially a woman.
   • 2006 May 5, Lauren Donovan, “Flasher [North Dakota]”, in The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, N.D., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:

     As for Josh Jochim, 11, he’ll try not to be too hyper and excited, especially when Lecoe, his fifth-grade teacher, along with the principal and superintendent all make good on their promise to color their hair purple if the school raised $1,000 for cancer research. […] Josh gave a speech Monday to kick off the schools’ Relay for Life activities, which culminate in today’s relay, but he couldn’t quite get through it. His teacher, Tracy Lecoe, the brunette soon to be a purplette, said the boy is not much of a speechmaker.

   • 2011 May 31, Joe Kimball, chapter 27, in Timecaster, New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN:

     I followed McGlade’s line of sight and saw another naked woman walk into the infirmary. Purple hair, in long pigtails. […] The purplette gave Tasty a deep kiss, then stroked my hair.

   • 2019 November 24, Vicky Jayne, chapter 32, in Lucifer’s Darling, Henderson, Nev.: Typewriter Pub, →ISBN:

     I turned to see a young woman standing in a flaxen linen suit. Her purple hair cut at her shoulders. […] The purplette sucked her lips together as if she had just taken a bite out of a lime.