Vermilion is a brilliant red pigment. Painted vermilion, a stroke of vermilion, vermilion robes.
The traditional pigment was made from cinnabar, an ore of mercury, and was both glorious and poisonous, which is why modern paint uses a synthetic substitute. The name comes from the Latin for a little worm, since a related red dye came from an insect.
1nounvermilionA brilliant red pigment.
“The artist mixed a little vermilion into the paint to make the sunset glow.”
vermilion is a colour.
Old French vermeillon comes from Latin vermiculus, a little worm, from a red dye made from insects.
Old French
vermeillon
Middle English
vermelioun
English, today
vermilion
Built from
From Middle English vermelioun, from Old French vermeillon, from vermeil. From Middle English vermelioun, vermyloun, vermylon, vermilun, from Old French vermeillon (“vermilion”), from vermeil, from Latin vermiculus (“little worm”), from vermis (“worm”), ultimately in reference to Kermes vermilio, a type of scale insect used to make a crimson dye. Displaced native bōcrēad.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA