crimson

crimson

English

Etymology

PIE word
*kʷŕ̥mis

Late Middle English cremesyn, from obsolete French cramoisin or Old Spanish cremesin, from Arabic قِرْمِز‎ (qirmiz), from Persian کرمست‎ (kirmist), from Middle Persian; see Proto-Indo-Iranian *kŕ̥miš. Cognate with Sanskrit कृमिज (kṛmija). Doublet of kermes; also see carmine.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɪmzən/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɪmzən/, /ˈkɹɪmsən/
• Rhymes: -ɪmzən, -ɪmsən

Noun

crimson (countable and uncountable, plural crimsons) crimson on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

1. A deep, slightly bluish red.

   crimson:  

   • 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Priory School” in The Return of Sherlock Holmes,

     To my horror I perceived that the yellow blossoms were all dabbled with crimson.

Translations

deep, slightly bluish red

Arabic: قِرْمِز‎ m (qirmiz) Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܩܸܪܡܝܼܙܵܐ‎ m (qirmīza) Azerbaijani: qönçə (az), al (az), al-qırmızı Bulgarian: пурпур m (purpur) Catalan: carmesí (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 艷紅色／艳红色 (zh) (yànhóngsè) Cornish: kogh Czech: karmínový (cs) Dutch: karmijnrood (nl) n, helrood (nl) n, dieprood (nl) n, karmozijn (nl) n Esperanto: karmezino Estonian: karmiinpunane Finnish: verenpunainen, karmiininpunainen French: cramoisi (fr) m, carmin (fr), pourpre (fr) Galician: carmeso m, carmesín m Georgian: მეწამული (mec̣amuli), ალისფერი (ka) (alisperi), ჟოლოსფერი (žolosperi) German: Purpur (de) n, Purpurrot n, Karmesin n Greek: βυσσινί (el) n (vyssiní), βαθύ κόκκινο n (vathý kókkino) Ancient: φοινός (phoinós) Hebrew: אַרְגָּמָן‎ (he) (argaman) Hindi: क़िरमिज़ी m (qirmizī) Hungarian: karmazsin (hu) Icelandic: fagurrauður, djúprauður Ido: karmezino (io) Irish: corcairdhearg m Italian: cremisi (it), granata (it) Japanese: 深紅色 (しんくしょく, shinkushoku), クリムゾン (kurimuzon), 紅色 (ja) (べにいろ, beniiro) Malay: kirmizi, merah tua Maori: pākurakura Nepali: सिम्रिक (simrik) Occitan: carmin, cremesin, carmesin Pashto: ارغواني‎ (ps) (ar-ghwani) Persian: زرشکی‎ (fa) (zereški) Polish: karmazyn (pl) m inan Portuguese: carmim (pt), carmesim (pt) m Romanian: carmin (ro) Russian: мали́новый (ru) (malínovyj), а́лый (ru) (ályj), пунцо́вый (ru) (puncóvyj), багро́вый (ru) (bagróvyj), багря́ный (ru) (bagrjányj), пу́рпур (ru) m (púrpur) Serbo-Croatian: grimizno (sh) n Slovak: karmínový m Slovene: škrlatna Spanish: carmín (es) m, carmesí (es) m Swedish: karmosinröd (sv), karmosin (sv) Telugu: రక్తిమ (te) (raktima), ఎర్రని (te) (errani) Turkish: kırmızı (tr), al (tr) Ukrainian: багря́нець (uk) m (bahrjánecʹ) Welsh: rhudd (cy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Korean: (please verify) 심홍색 (simhongsaek) Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) гримизна боја

Adjective

crimson (comparative more crimson, superlative most crimson)

1. Having a deep red colour.
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326, page 168:

     Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.

   • 1950, Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast

     Her crimson dress inflames grey corridors, or flaring in a sunshaft through high branches makes of the deep green shadows a greenness darker yet, and a darkness greener.

2. Immodest. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Translations

having a deep red colour

Arabic: قِرْمِزِيّ‎ m (qirmiziyy) Bulgarian: пурпурен (bg) (purpuren) Catalan: carmesí (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 艷紅色／艳红色 (zh) (yànhóngsè), 赤紅色／赤红色 (chìhóngsè) Cornish: kogh Dutch: karmijnrood (nl), helrood (nl), dieprood (nl) Esperanto: karmezina Finnish: verenpunainen, karmiininpunainen French: cramoisi (fr) Georgian: მეწამული (mec̣amuli), ალისფერი (ka) (alisperi), ჟოლოსფერი (žolosperi), სისხლისფერი (sisxlisperi) German: purpurn (de), purpurrot (de), blutrot (de) (Himmel), dunkelrot (de), karmesinrot Greek: βυσσινής (el) m (vyssinís), βαθυκόκκινος (el) m (vathykókkinos) Ancient: κόκκινος (kókkinos) Hindi: क़िरमिज़ी (qirmizī) Hungarian: karmazsin (hu), karmazsinvörös (hu) Icelandic: fagurrauður, djúprauður Ido: karmezina (io) Irish: craorag, corcairdhearg Italian: cremisi (it) Japanese: 深紅色の (しんくしょくの, shinkushoku no) Latin: coccineus (la) Nepali: सिम्रिक (simrik) Polish: karmazynowy (pl) Portuguese: carmim (pt), carmesim (pt) Romanian: carmin (ro) Russian: мали́новый (ru) (malínovyj), а́лый (ru) (ályj), пунцо́вый (ru) (puncóvyj), багро́вый (ru) (bagróvyj), багря́ный (ru) (bagrjányj) Serbo-Croatian: grimizan (sh) m, grimizan (sh) m Slovene: škrlaten (sl) Spanish: carmín (es), carmesí (es) Swedish: karmosinröd (sv) Telugu: ఎర్రని (te) (errani) Ukrainian: багря́ний (uk) (bahrjányj), багро́вий (uk) (bahróvyj) Vietnamese: đỏ thắm

having loose modesty

Finnish: kevytkenkäinen (fi) German: lose Sitten f pl

Verb

crimson (third-person singular simple present crimsons, present participle crimsoning, simple past and past participle crimsoned)

1. (intransitive) To become crimson or deep red; to blush.
   • 1885, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Ring” in The Poetical Works of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, New York and Boston: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., Volume 2, p. 662,

     Father. Why do you look so gravely at the tower?

     Miram. I never saw it yet so all ablaze

     With creepers crimsoning to the pinnacles,

   • 1922, James Joyce, chapter 13, in Ulysses:

     Gerty MacDowell bent down her head and crimsoned at the idea of Cissy saying an unladylike thing like that out loud she'd be ashamed of her life to say, flushing a deep rosy red, and Edy Boardman said she was sure the gentleman opposite heard what she said. But not a pin cared Ciss.

2. (transitive) To dye with crimson or deep red; to redden.
   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i]:

     Here didst thou fall; and here thy hunters stand,
     Sign’d in thy spoil, and crimson’d in thy lethe.

   • 1811, [Jane Austen], Sense and Sensibility […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], OCLC 20599507, page 153:

     Her face was crimsoned over, and she exclaimed, in a voice of the greatest emotion, “Good God! Willoughby, what is the meaning of this? […] ”

   • 1936, William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!, New York: Modern Library, 1951, Chapter 5, p. 138,

     […] that sheetless bed (that nuptial couch of love and grief) with the pale and bloody corpse in its patched and weathered gray crimsoning the bare mattress […]

Translations

blush — see blush

Derived terms

• alizarin crimson
• crimson clover
• crimson finch
• crimson lake
• crimson tide
• crimson-winged woodpecker

 

Related terms

• kermes
• carmine

See also

• (reds) red; blood red, brick red, burgundy, cardinal, carmine, carnation, cerise, cherry, cherry red, Chinese red, cinnabar, claret, crimson, damask, fire brick, fire engine red, flame, flamingo, fuchsia, garnet, geranium, gules, hot pink, incarnadine, Indian red, magenta, maroon, misty rose, nacarat, oxblood, pillar-box red, pink, Pompeian red, poppy, raspberry, red violet, rose, rouge, ruby, ruddy, salmon, sanguine, scarlet, shocking pink, stammel, strawberry, Turkey red, Venetian red, vermillion, vinaceous, vinous, violet red, wine ^{(Category: en:Reds)}

Further reading

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

Anagrams

• microns