cinnabar · adj — of a bright red colour tinted with orange.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
cinnabar is pronounced /ˈsɪn.əˌbɑɹ/.
Why “cinnabar” is a great word
A deep red mineral, mercuric sulfide (HgS), the principal ore of mercury and the source of the pigment vermilion. First attested in the mid-15th century. From Middle English cynabare, from Old French cinabre, from Latin cinnabaris, from Ancient Greek κιννάβαρι (kinnábari), of unknown origin. Unlike "vermilion" (which denotes the refined pigment ground from the mineral) or "scarlet" (which names a general hue without mineralogical weight), cinnabar is the raw, earth-born thing—dense, sulfurous, humming with latent toxicity. It is the volcanic deposit gleaming like frozen fire in the mine's dark throat, the toxic dust that gilded the faces of Chinese emperors, and the warning color of the moth that feeds on ragwort—beauty and hazard inseparably fused, the earth's own way of marking what should not be touched.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
First attested in the mid-15th century. From Middle English cynabare, from Old French cinabre, from Latin cinnabaris, from Ancient Greek κιννάβαρι (kinnábari), of unknown origin.
adj
- Of a bright red colour tinted with orange.
noun
- A deep red mineral, mercuric sulfide, HgS; the principal ore of mercury; such ore used as the pigment vermilion.
- A bright red colour tinted with orange.
- A species of erebid moth, Tyria jacobaeae, having red patches on its predominantly black wings.e.g.“There are a few day-flying exceptions such as hummingbird hawk-moths, silver Ys, cinnabars, scarlet tigers and burnets but, in general, knowledge of moths lags behind that of butterflies.” — 2015, Norman Maclean, A Less Green and Pleasant Land, page 223:
- Synonym of dragon's blood (“type of resin”).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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