new words – purlieu

There are endless gorgeous descriptions of nature in this book. If it’s not clear by now I recommend it. This word sounded familiar to me but it turns out I didn’t know it after all.

Purlieu – an outlying or adjacent district. Environ, neighborhood

And here is the sentence, from The Orchard Keeper:

“Far below them shades of cloud moved up the valley floor like water flowing, darkened the quilted purlieus, moved on, the brushed land gone green and umber once again.”