Indian red

Definition

Any of a variety of red or purple pigments containing ferric oxide, found in natural earth or made by chemical methods like calcinating green copperas.

Etymology

1672 pigment, c. 1810–27 colour and adjective. Indian + red, the pigment originally being an earth obtained from the East Indies.

Example Sentences

• "Bradly paid no attention to either intrusion on his meditations, which at that moment were deeply concerned with adding Payne's grey to a combination of cobalt and Indian red for keying down his palette in the treatment of light reflected on water."