maroon

maroon

See also: Maroon

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: mə-ro͞onʹ IPA^(key): /məˈɹuːn/

  • Audio (UK)

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• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /məˈɹəʉn/, /məˈɹʉːn/
• Hyphenation: ma‧roon
• Rhymes: -uːn, -əʊn

Etymology 1

From French marron (“feral; fugitive”, adjective), from Spanish cimarrón (“fugitive, wild, feral”); see that entry for more.

Noun

maroon (plural maroons)

1. An escaped negro of the Caribbean and the Americas or a descendant of such a person. [from 17th c.]
   • 1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, p. 193:

     Further north a Maroon community in the Bahoruco Mountains thrived for eighty-five years, until the French proposed a truce under the terms of which the Maroons would be permitted to form an independent clan.

   • 2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books 2007, p. 14:

     Joining others who had escaped before them, they formed communities of Maroons in which many traditional African customs and social mores were preserved.

2. A castaway; a person who has been marooned. [from 19th c.]

   Synonyms: castaway, marooner

Alternative forms

• Maroon

Translations

runaway slave

Bulgarian: марон m (maron) Dutch: marron (nl) m, bosneger (nl) m, bosnegerin f, boslandcreool m, boslandcreoolse f French: marron (fr) m, marronne (fr) f, nègre marron m, négresse marronne f, nègre libre m, négresse libre f, Bushinengué m (French Guiana) German: Maroon (Maroons pl, from English), Maroon-Männer m pl, Maroon-Frauen f pl Hungarian: szökevény rabszolga Portuguese: quilombola (pt) m or f Russian: маро́н m (marón) Spanish: esclavo cimarrón m, esclava cimarrona f, quilombola m or f Sranan Tongo: maron, busnengre, lowenengre Wayana: meikolo

castaway

Dutch: uitgestotene (nl) c, verstotene c German: Ausgesetzter m, Ausgesetzte f, Ausgestoßener m, Ausgestoßene f, Ausgestossener m (Switzerland & Liechtenstein), Ausgestossene f (Switzerland & Liechtenstein) Italian: naufrago (it) m, naufraga (it) f Romanian: naufragiat (ro) m Russian: изго́й (ru) (izgój) Swedish: strandsatt (sv) person

Adjective

maroon (not comparable)

1. Associated with Maroon culture, communities or peoples.
   • 2002, Cynthia James, The Maroon Narrative: Caribbean Literature in English Across Boundaries, Ethnicities, and Centuries, Heinemann Educational Books

     In her discussion of Michelle Cliff's Abeng, a novel that historicizes maroon culture and the Jamaican warrior heroine Nanny of the Maroons, Francoise Lionnet examines linguistic “metissage” […]

Translations

associated with Maroon culture, communities or peoples

Dutch: marron-, boslandcreools French: marron (fr) German: Maroon-, der Maroons (genitive)

Verb

maroon (third-person singular simple present maroons, present participle marooning, simple past and past participle marooned)

1. To abandon in a remote, desolate place, as on a desert island.
   • 1963 April, “Winter on the Waverley”, in Modern Railways, page 281, photo caption:

     Hard-hit by the Arctic winter, the Waverley route was completely closed from January 6-9, when an avalanche between Whitrope and Riccarton marooned Class A2 4-6-2 No. 60535 Hornet's Beauty.

   • 2010, Brogan Steele, From the Jaws of Death: Extreme True Adventures of Man vs. Nature‎, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 231:

     After the harrowing stories of being marooned at sea and stranded in the frozen wastelands of Alaska and the Poles, one would think that survival on dry land would be easier […]

Derived terms

• marooner

Translations

to abandon

Bulgarian: изоставям (bg) (izostavjam) Dutch: achterlaten (nl), verlaten (nl) German: im Stich lassen (de), aussetzen (de), von der Außenwelt abschneiden Hungarian: hátrahagy, lakatlan szigetre kitesz Italian: abbandonare (it), mollare (it), piantare (it) Maori: whakamahue Russian: бросать (ru) (brosatʹ) Slovak: tvrdnúť Swedish: strandsätta (sv), överge (sv)

Further reading

• A good short account of the "Bush Negroes" in Suriname

Etymology 2

French marron (“chestnut; brown”), from Italian marrone (“chestnut; brown”). Compare Spanish marrón.

Noun

maroon (plural maroons)

1. A rich dark red, somewhat brownish, color.

   maroon:  

   • 2009, Ben Long, The Nikon D90 Companion: Practical Photography Advice You Can Take Anywhere‎, O'Reilly Media, Inc., →ISBN, page 176:

     Is it a really dark maroon or a lighter maroon or a maroon that leans toward the red side? Or the magenta side? To address this issue, scientists use something called a color space.

Translations

dark red, somewhat brownish colour

Arabic: كَسْتَنَائِيّ‎ m (kastanāʔiyy) Chinese: Mandarin: 栗色 (zh) (lìsè) Danish: maron Finnish: punaruskea (fi) French: marron pourpré, bordeaux (fr) Galician: ruzo, burel Georgian: წაბლისფერი (c̣ablisperi) German: (general) Rotbaun n; (more brownish tones) Kastanienbraun n; (more reddish tones) Weinrot n, Bordeaux (de) n Greek: καστανέρυθρο (el) n (kastanérythro) Hebrew: בורדו‎ (bordo), עַרְמוֹנִי‎ (he) m ('armoní) Hungarian: gesztenyebarna (hu), vörösesbarna (hu) Icelandic: rauðbrúnn m, dumbrauður m Indonesian: maron Italian: granata (it), bordeaux (it) Japanese: 栗色 (くりいろ, kuriiro) Korean: 밤색 (ko) (bamsaek) Lithuanian: kaštoninė f Macedonian: бордо (bordo) Malay: jahang, merah tua Mongolian: элгэн хүрэн өнгө (elgen xüren öngö) Navajo: diłhiłgo łichííʼ Persian: بلوطی‎ (fa) (baluti) Portuguese: bordô (pt) Romanian: maro (ro) Russian: тёмно-бордо́вый (ru) (tjómno-bordóvyj) (цвет), бордо́вый (ru) (bordóvyj) Spanish: granate (es), castaño (es), (Argentina) bordó (es), burdeos Swedish: bordeaux (sv), vinröd (sv) Vietnamese: hạt dẻ

Adjective

maroon (comparative more maroon, superlative most maroon)

1. Of a maroon color

Translations

color

Afrikaans: bruinrooi Bulgarian: кестеняв (kestenjav) Dutch: bordeauxrood (nl) Finnish: punaruskea (fi) French: marron pourpré, bordeaux (fr) Galician: loureiro (gl), moretado, fouveiro, brun (gl) Georgian: წაბლისფერი (c̣ablisperi) German: (general) rotbraun (de); (more brownish tones) kastanienbraun (de); (more reddish tones) weinrot (de), bordeauxrot Greek: καστανέρυθρος (el) (kastanérythros) Hungarian: bordóvörös (hu) Icelandic: rauðbrúnn m, dumbrauður m Indonesian: merah marun Italian: granate, rossastro (it), fulvo (it) Japanese: 栗色の (くりいろの, kuriiro no) Javanese: abang marun Lithuanian: kaštoninė Malagasy: volontsokola Maltese: marun (mt) Mongolian: элгэн хүрэн (elgen xüren) Navajo: diłhiłgo łichííʼ Persian: بلوطی‎ (fa) (baluti) Polish: kasztanowa, barwa kasztanowa Portuguese: castanho (pt) m, castanha (pt) f Romanian: maro (ro) Russian: тёмно-бордо́вый (ru) (tjómno-bordóvyj) Spanish: castaño (es) Swedish: vinröd (sv) Turkish: bordo (tr) Vietnamese: màu hạt dẻ, nâu sẫm

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)}

Etymology 3

Unknown. Possibly related to the sense “castaway” (etymology 1), or owing to the fact that the color of a fired flare was commonly red (etymology 2).

Noun

maroon (plural maroons)

1. (nautical) A rocket-propelled firework or skyrocket, often one used as a signal (e.g. to summon the crew of a lifeboat or warn of an air raid).
   • 1887, “Metropolitan Reports,” The Chemist and Druggist, 5 November, 1887, p. 564,

     On Sunday afternoon a serious firework explosion occurred in Lambeth, whereby three persons were seriously injured. Two lads […] purchased a firework called a “maroon”, which is a bomb consisting of a small ball of string covered with a red composition. It is loaded with gunpowder, and there is also a fuse attached.

   • 1891, William Archer (translator), “At the Fair” in Tales of Two Countries by Alexander Kielland, New York: Harper, p. 73,

     As the evening falls, colored lamps and Chinese lanterns are lighted around the venerable oak which stands in the middle of the fairground and boys climb about among its topmost branches with maroons and Bengal lights.

   • 1900, Alan C. Jenkins, Introducing Horses, London: Spring Books,

     Many a seaman’s life may have depended on equine speed and strength. Some of these ‘Lifeboat Horses’ used to recognise the maroon which was fired to summon the Lifeboat crew. Long after its retirement one of the horses which regularly helped to haul the Hoylake Lifeboat heard a maroon fired one day when it was working in the neighbouring fields. It immediately became very excited and made for the boathouse.

   • 1932, George Bernard Shaw, Too True to Be Good, Act II,

     And now I am off to inspect stores. There is a shortage of maroons that I don’t understand.

   • 1933, H. G. Wells, The Shape of Things to Come, Book 2, Chapter 9,

     The big air raids […] were much more dreadful than the air raids of the World War. They began with a nightmare of warning maroons, sirens, hooters and the shrill whistles of cyclist scouts, then swarms of frantic people running to and fro […]

Etymology 4

From an intentional mispronunciation of the word moron used by the cartoon character Bugs Bunny.

Noun

maroon (plural maroons)

1. (slang, derogatory) An idiot; a fool.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fool, Thesaurus:idiot

   • 2011, S. Watts Taylor, Tarnish, iUniverse, published 2011, →ISBN, page 21:

     At least, I would not be sleeping that night. Why did I have that espresso? What a maroon!

Anagrams

• Morano, Romano-, romano