vermeil

Forms

vermeil (feminine vermeille, masculine plural vermeils, feminine plural vermeilles)^[1] Old French vermeil, also vermail.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French vermeil, inherited from Latin vermiculus (“little worm, grub”), a diminutive of vermis (“worm”).^[2][4][5][1] In Late Latin the word named the cochineal insect of the oak and the scarlet dye made from it, and it was used as an adjective by the 6th century.^[2][6][4] French later borrowed the Latin noun as vermicule “small worm” (late 15th century).^[4]

Cognate with Occitan vermelh, Spanish bermejo and Portuguese vermelho;^[7][4] Bloch and Wartburg take Italian vermiglio to come from Gallo-Romance.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1100 in the Chanson de Roland, of a bright, light red: vermeill sanc “red blood”, une vermeille pume “a red apple”; the same poem uses it as a noun for the red colour of a shield.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

As a noun it meant a red cloth in Old and Middle French (1213, vermaill; 1389, vermeil), and the phrase torner le vermeil de l'escu (about 1150) meant to leave a lord's service, by turning the shield, red on one side.^[4][2]

Vermeil doré, “gilded red”, described silver gilt from 1490.^[2] From 1653 the noun alone meant silver covered with a reddish gilding;^[2][4] by metonymy it named the gilding itself (1676),^[4] and in painting a red varnish that gives lustre to gilded work (Félibien, 1676).^[2] With gold and silver, the metal marks anniversaries, as in noces de vermeil and the médaille vermeil of work, whence the carte vermeil, a reduced-fare card for older people (1969, SNCF).^[4][2]

English took vermeil “bright red” from Anglo-French and Old French vermail in the mid-14th century.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Vermeill “bright red” in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• c. 1150 – Torner le vermeil de l'escu “to leave a lord's service”.^[4]
• 1213 – Vermaill “red cloth” in the Faits des Romains.^[2]
• Mid-14th century – English borrows vermeil.^[3]
• 1490 – Argent vermeil doré in an inventory of Anne of Brittany.^[2]
• 1653 – Vermeil alone means silver gilt.^[2][4]
• 1676 – Félibien uses it for a red varnish.^[2]
• 1969 – Carte vermeil in an SNCF notice.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a bright, light red, used especially of the complexion and lips: un teint vermeil.^[8][1]

Noun

1. Silver gilt, silver covered with a gilding of warm, reddish tone.^[8][9][1]
2. The gilding applied to silver.^[8]
3. Carte vermeil: a railway card giving reduced fares to older travellers.^[9][4]

Word family

• vermillon

Related words

• ver
• vermicule
• vermine
• Latin vermiculus
• English vermeil

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)