med_cat: (Default)
Nechama Chaya ([personal profile] med_cat) wrote in [community profile] 1word1day2014-12-26 04:47 pm

Friday words: Vermeil and vermilion

ver·meil noun

1: vermilion
2: gilded silver
— vermeil adjective

Etymology:
Middle French, from vermeil, adjective

First Known Use: 1530

ver·mil·ion noun \vər-ˈmil-yən\

1: a bright red pigment consisting of mercuric sulfide; broadly : any of various red pigments
2: a vivid reddish orange

Etymology:
Middle English vermilioun, from Anglo-French vermeilloun, from vermeil, adjective, bright red, vermilion, from Late Latin vermiculus kermes, from Latin, little worm

First Known Use:
13th century

Example:

Vermilion is used in the poem "The Windhover" by Gerard Manley Hopkins, which you can read here

Post a comment in response:

This account has disabled anonymous posting.
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting