Etymologically
Log in

maroon

This is an old revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 00:33. It may differ significantly from the current version. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Current version Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /məˈɹuːn/[1]

Etymology

There are two words.[2][3][4] The verb and the noun for a fugitive slave are borrowed from French marron (“runaway, feral”),[2][3][5][4][6] a modification of American Spanish cimarrón “wild, runaway”,[2][3][5][4][6] perhaps from cima “summit”,[2][3][5] from Latin cyma (“sprout”).[2][3][5] The colour word is borrowed from French marron (“chestnut”),[2][3][5][4][6] from Italian marrone,[2][6] perhaps from a pre-Roman word.[3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

One of a group of Black people, originally fugitive slaves, living in the mountains and forests of Suriname and the West Indies (1626 as Symeron; 1666 as maron).[7][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Cimarrón was first used of domestic animals that ran off into the woods, and later of escaped slaves,[6] with the idea of living wild in the mountains.[5][3] In English maroon first meant such a fugitive,[7][4][2] and as a verb (1690s) to be lost in the wilds.[5][3] Buccaneers and pirates punished people by leaving them on desolate islands, and to maroon came to mean this (1724–1726).[5][7][6] From 1910 it was used of anyone left isolated without hope of escape.[7][4] Separately, maroon meant a large sweet chestnut (1594),[7][3] and from 1791 its brownish-crimson colour.[7][3][5]

Timeline

  • 1594 – a sweet chestnut (obsolete).[7][3]
  • 1626 – Symeron, a fugitive slave.[7][3]
  • 1690s – verb, to be lost in the wilds.[5][3]
  • 1724 – verb, to put ashore on a desolate island.[5]
  • 1749 – a firework with a loud report.[7]
  • 1791 – a brownish-crimson colour.[7][3][5]
  • 1883 – a person who is marooned.[7]
  • 1910 – to leave isolated.[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To put ashore and abandon on a deserted island or coast.
  2. To leave isolated with little hope of rescue or escape.

Noun

  1. A dark brownish-red colour.
  2. (often capitalized) A fugitive slave of the West Indies or Guiana in the 17th and 18th centuries, or a descendant of one.
  3. A person who has been marooned.
  4. (chiefly British) A loud firework used as a signal.

Adjective

  1. Of a dark brownish-red colour.
  • marooned
  • maroonage
  • marron

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press