purlieu

UK: /ˈpɜːljuː/ US: (pûr′lo̅o̅, pûrl′yo̅o̅)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pur•lieu  (pûr′lo̅o̅, pûrl′yo̅o̅), n. 

1. purlieus, environs or neighborhood.
2. a place where one may range at large;
   confines or bounds.
3. a person's haunt or resort.
4. an outlying district or region, as of a town or city.
5. a piece of land on the edge of a forest, originally land that, after having been included in a royal forest, was restored to private ownership, though still subject, in some respects, to the operation of the forest laws.

• Latin prō for, pro¹, confused with per through) + aller (see alley)
• Anglo-French purale(e) a going through, equivalent. to pur (
• alteration (simulating French lieu place) of earlier parlewe, parley, paraley purlieu of a forest 1475–85

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

purlieu / ˈpɜːljuː/ noun

1. land on the edge of a forest that was once included within the bounds of the royal forest but was later separated although still subject to some of the forest laws, esp regarding hunting
2. (usually plural) a neighbouring area; outskirts
3. (often plural) a place one frequents; haunt

Etymology: 15th Century purlewe, from Anglo-French puralé a going through (influenced also by Old French lieu place), from Old French puraler to traverse, from pur through + aler to go