Meaning

noun a purplish dye obtained from orchil lichens

noun any of various lecanoras that yield the dye archil

originFrom Middle English orchell, from Old French orchel, orseil, from Old Catalan orxella (influenced by dialectal Arabic [script needed] ('urjālla)), from Italian oricello, from Latin ōricilla, diminutive of ōricula (variant of auricula), both diminutives of auris (“ear”)) + illa (a double diminutive suffix) or from auris (“ear”) + cula + illa. The name of the dye was influenced by the visual…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0