carmín

Forms

carmín m (plural carmines)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French carmin, a French word recorded from the 12th century whose own origin is uncertain.^[2][3][4][1] French dictionaries record it first as charmin (about 1165).^[5]

The usual explanation, Wartburg's, derives it from Medieval Latin *carminium, a cross of the Arabic word behind carmesí with Latin minium (“red lead, vermilion”).^[2][6] Corominas rejects this: Du Cange has no such form, the Latin word looks modern, Italian carminio is recorded only from 1754, and the old Catalan and Occitan forms may be adaptations of the French word.^[2] He thinks it more likely that Old Spanish carmez, recorded in León in the 10th century, passed to France, where its ⟨-z⟩ was taken for a plural sign, giving an Old French *carme, whose derivative is the French word.^[2] He also leaves open an eastern source related to Arabic قِرْمِز (qirmiz).^[2] The “Dictionnaire historique de la langue française” sets out the same two proposals.^[5] The DLE says that the French word perhaps has the same origin as the Spanish adjective.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH has the word first in an Aragonese contract of 1326 for painting a saddle with fine gold y de carmin fino “and fine carmine”, then in a 1403 contract for an altarpiece at Montalbán, which asks for paint de carmin fino.^[7] Earlier still, the Libro del cavallero Cifar has a king named Carmín, a proper name and not this word.^[7] DICCA-XV dates the word from 1494.^[8] Corominas recorded it only from 1571, as the name of a bright red flower, and as an adjective from 1595, in Sigüenza.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word first named the pigment used by painters, in contracts for saddles and altarpieces.^[7] Corominas's 16th-century records show it as the name of a red flower and then as a colour adjective.^[2] The Academy's dictionary of 1899 defined it as a bright red colouring matter obtained mainly from cochineal, the colour itself, a wild rose with bright red flowers and its flower.^[9] The sense “lipstick” (pintalabios) is recent: the DLE and Moliner give it as a paste for colouring the lips.^[4][10] As an adjective it is invariable: uñas carmín.^[4][11]

In Puerto Rico and Colombia carmín is a wild herbaceous plant, Rivina humilis, whose leaves give a pink dye.^[12][13] In Colombia it was also a name for the hummingbird.^[14]

Timeline

• 1326 – an Aragonese contract for painting a saddle with carmin fino.^[7]
• 1403 – a contract for an altarpiece at Montalbán.^[7]
• 1494 – DICCA-XV's first date.^[8]
• 1571 – Corominas's first record, as the name of a red flower.^[2][3]
• 1595 – first record as an adjective, in Sigüenza.^[2]
• 1716 – first record in the Americas, in Guatemala: el carmín de su sangre.^[15]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the pigment, the colour, the wild rose and its flower.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. carmine: a bright red colouring matter, obtained mainly from cochinilla; also the colour itself.^[4][1][10]
2. lipstick; pintalabios: Se retocó el carmín antes de salir.^[4][1]
3. A wild rose (rosal) whose flowers are carmine red; its flower.^[4]
4. (Puerto Rico, Colombia) A wild herbaceous plant, Rivina humilis, whose leaves give a pink dye.^[12][13]

Adjective

1. Bright red; of carmine colour, invariable in number: labios carmín.^[4][1][11]

Related words

• carmesí
• quermes
• French carmin

Usage notes

The phrase carmín bajo names a cheaper pigment made of matt gypsum and cochineal.^[4][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 877
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. carmín
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. carmín
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. carmín
7. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. carmín
8. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. carmín
9. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 199
10. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. carmín
11. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. carmín
12. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. carmín
13. ^ a b Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. carmín
14. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1959), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Porrúa, p. 218
15. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. carmín