carmine

Definition

A purplish-red pigment, made from dye obtained from the cochineal beetle; carminic acid or any of its derivatives.

Etymology

PIE word *kʷŕ̥mis From French carmin, from irregular Medieval Latin carminium, itself from Arabic قِرْمِز (qirmiz, “crimson, kermes”) from Persian *کرمست (*kermest), ultimately from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kŕ̥miš (“worm”), plus or with influence from Latin minium. Compare crimson and kermes.

Example Sentences

• "1967, Time, "The Case of the Dubious Dye," 6 January, 1967, https://web.archive.org/web/20130721101257/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,843172,00.html Cases of cubana salmonellosis in three other states were traced to carmine red, and supplies were called in. […] But authorities have been checking other places for carmine red, knowing that it is a favorite coloring in candy, chewing gum, ice cream, cough syrups and drugs. Manufacturers like to use it because of a legal quirk: being a natural rather than a synthetic product, it does not have to be mentioned on labels."
• "He wore a great coat in midsummer, being affected with the trembling delirium, and his face was the color of carmine."
• "I am alive, I guess, / The branches on my hand / Are full of morning-glory, / And at my fingers' end / The carmine tingles warm,"