magenta English · revision 1392

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /məˈd͡ʒɛntə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is named after the Battle of Magenta (1859), near the town of that name in northern Italy,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) where the French and Sardinians defeated the Austrians,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) because the dye was discovered in that year.^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A brilliant crimson aniline dye and the colour it produces (1860).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline notes that the victory advanced Italian independence and fired the imagination of European liberals, and that other dyes of the period were also named after battles, such as ''solferino''.^(Etymonline) The word was used attributively from 1875 and in compound colour names from 1882.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1859 – the Battle of Magenta.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1860 – the dye and its colour.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1875 – attributive and adjective use.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A vivid purplish-red colour.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The dye [[fuchsin]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of a purplish-red colour.^(Wiktionary)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fuchsia]]

+ * [[solferino]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}