maroon English · revision 1956

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /məˈɹuːn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ There are two words.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) The verb and the noun for a fugitive slave are [[bor|fr|marron|t=runaway, feral]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) a modification of American Spanish ''cimarrón'' “wild, runaway”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) perhaps from ''cima'' “summit”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[der|la|cyma|t=sprout]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The colour word is [[bor|fr|marron|t=chestnut]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|it|marrone]],^(AHD)^(RHWU) perhaps from a pre-Roman word.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==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'').^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Cimarrón'' was first used of domestic animals that ran off into the woods, and later of escaped slaves,^(RHWU) with the idea of living wild in the mountains.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) In English ''maroon'' first meant such a fugitive,^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD) and as a verb (1690s) to be lost in the wilds.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) Buccaneers and pirates punished people by leaving them on desolate islands, and ''to maroon'' came to mean this (1724–1726).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) From 1910 it was used of anyone left isolated without hope of escape.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) Separately, ''maroon'' meant a large sweet chestnut (1594),^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) and from 1791 its brownish-crimson colour.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1594 – a sweet chestnut (obsolete).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1626 – ''Symeron'', a fugitive slave.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1690s – verb, to be lost in the wilds.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1724 – verb, to put ashore on a desolate island.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1749 – a firework with a loud report.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1791 – a brownish-crimson colour.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1883 – a person who is marooned.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1910 – to leave isolated.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put ashore and abandon on a deserted island or coast.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To leave isolated with little hope of rescue or escape.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A dark brownish-red colour.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(often capitalized)'' A fugitive slave of the West Indies or Guiana in the 17th and 18th centuries, or a descendant of one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person who has been marooned.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(chiefly British)'' A loud firework used as a signal.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of a dark brownish-red colour.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[marooned]]

+ * [[maroonage]]

+ * [[marron]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}