Order of the Purple Heart
1
6.0
- noun
- /ˈɔrdər əv ðə ˈpɜrpl hɑrt/
- Formal
:
Orden del Corazón Púrpura
- The President awarded him the Order of the Purple Heart for his bravery and sacrifice during the battle.
Examples
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The Order of the Purple Heart is given to those who are wounded or killed while serving in the armed forces.
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He is a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
Blog text (34) -
After being injured in combat, she received the Order of the Purple Heart as recognition for her service.
Synonyms
28
4.1
A military medal given to people in the United States military who are wounded or killed in action
Surface Forms
Morphology
order + of + the + purple + heart
The phrase follows the cross-linguistic naming pattern 'Order of the X', so a learner who knows 'order' (as a formal rank or honor) together with 'purple' and 'heart' could infer this is a formal award or decoration. However, the specific cultural meaning — that it is a United States military medal awarded to those wounded or killed in action — is not derivable from the literal constituents, so the full sense is not predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Order of the Purple Heart comes from a real medal: a purple heart given to United States soldiers who were 'wounded' or 'killed' in battle. So the name now means the U.S. military award for those hurt or who died in action.