crimson English · revision 2467

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkɹɪmzən/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkɹɪmzən/, /ˈkɹɪmsən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|cremesin]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995) from [[osp|cremesín]], [[it|cremesino]] and [[la-med|cremesīnus]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) all [[der|ar|قرمزي|tr=qirmizī|t=of the kermes]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|ar|قرمز|tr=qirmiz|t=kermes]], the insect from which a red dye was made.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) Etymonline notes that the word reached most European languages from Italian through the export of Italian silk cloth.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cloth dyed deep purplish red, and that colour (early 15th century).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word passed from the name of a dye to the colour itself, as the same Arabic source did in Slavic words for “red”.^(Etymonline) Figuratively it was linked with blood (before 1681).^(OED 1989) The verb “to make crimson” dates from 1601 and “to become crimson”, especially in blushing, from 1805.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1400 – the colour or pigment.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1416 – as ''crymesyn'', ''cremesin''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * about 1440 – adjective, deep purplish red.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1601 – verb, to make crimson.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1805 – verb, to become crimson, to blush.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

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

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of a deep red colour.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Bloody; sanguinary.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become deep red, especially to blush.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[encrimson]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[kermes]]

+ * [[carmine]]

+ * [[cramoisy]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}