violet

from violette, itself from the Latin viola (wild pansy). Horace already uses the word to designate the color of the flower, so viola would already be violet in Latin. There is also the adjective violeus, viola and violeum, with the meaning of 'with a violet color'. Dauzat records the existence of the form violat in the 13th century, referring to the Latin form violatum ('containing violets'), and the form violet in 1328. Corominas traces the form violette back to the 12th century, always with the same etymology.