Something that is mauve is of a pale purple colour. It bears clusters of mauve flowers in early summer. A moderate grayish violet to moderate reddish purple.mauve adj. a pale purple colour (from malva; MALLOW)
[ 'mov, 'mOv ] (noun.) 1859. From French mauve, from Latin malva, ‘mallow’, which has a purple colour. First coined in 1856 by the chemist William Henry Perkin, when he accidentally created the first aniline dye.