sanguine

sanguine

English

WOTD – 30 March 2006

Etymology

From Middle English sanguine, from Old French sanguin, ultimately from Latin sanguineus (“of blood”), from sanguis (“blood”), of uncertain origin, perhaps Proto-Indo-European *h₁sh₂-én-, from *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”). Doublet of sanguineous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsæŋ.ɡwɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋɡwɪn

Adjective

sanguine (comparative more sanguine, superlative most sanguine)

1. (literary) Having the colour of blood; blood red. [from late 14th c.]
2. (obsolete, physiology) Having a bodily constitution characterised by a preponderance of blood over the other bodily humours, thought to be marked by irresponsible mirth; indulgent in pleasure to the exclusion of important matters.
   • c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     What, what, ye sanguine, shallow-hearted boys!

   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene iv]:

     I'll be no longer guilty of this sin; this sanguine coward, this
     bed-presser, this horse-back-breaker, this huge hill of flesh.

3. Characterized by abundance and active circulation of blood.

   a sanguine bodily temperament

   • 1833, R. J. Bertin, Charles W. Chauncy, transl., Treatise on the Diseases of the Heart, and Great Vessels, Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Blnachard, page 188:

     Eleonore Lemindre, aged 34, tailoress, of a sanguine lymphatic temperament, having suffered great depression of spirits, experienced, in the course of 1820, symptoms of what is called disease of the heart.

4. Warm; ardent.

   a sanguine temper

5. Anticipating the best; optimistic; confident; full of hope. [from early 16th c.]

   Antonym: despondent

   • 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XVIII, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, OCLC 1708336, pages 306–307:

     Mrs. Weston was exceedingly disappointed—much more disappointed, in fact, than her husband, though her dependence on seeing the young man had been so much more sober: but a sanguine temper, though for ever expecting more good than occurs, does not always pay for its hopes by any proportionate depression. It soon flies over the present failure, and begins to hope again.

   I'm sanguine about the eventual success of the project.

   • 1857, Anthony Trollope, “The Master and Tutor of Lazarus”, in Barchester Towers. […], volume II, copyright edition, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1859, OCLC 490927853, page 101:

     It was clear that Dr. Gwynne was not very sanguine as to the effects of his journey to Barchester, and not over anxious to interfere with the bishop.

   • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “McWatt”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, OCLC 1023879857, page page:

     The plan was not feasible, for making a ninety-degree turn would have been impossible without nickel-alloy swivels inserted in the small of every man's back, and Lieutenant Scheisskopf was not sanguine at all about obtaining that many nickel-alloy swivels from Quartermaster or enlisting the cooperation of the surgeons at the hospital.

   • 2022 February 2, Charlotte Cowles, “Can ‘Body Neutrality’ Change the Way You Work Out?”, in The New York Times:

     Maybe it was hormones, or the immersion of parenting a newborn, or a new appreciation for what my body could do, but I felt surprisingly sanguine about my wobbly physical state.

6. (archaic) Full of blood; bloody.
7. (archaic) Bloodthirsty.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with sanguinary.

Synonyms

• animated
• assured
• bright
• bullish
• buoyant
• ridibund
• cheerful
• cheery
• confident
• hopeful
• optimistic
• positive
• red
• spirited
• upbeat
• vivificated

Antonyms

• (optimistic): blue, gloomy, pessimistic

Derived terms

• consanguine
• sanguinary
• sanguineness
• sanguinity

 

Translations

having the colour of blood; red

Bulgarian: кървавочервен (bg) (kǎrvavočerven) Chinese: Mandarin: 血红 (zh) (xuèhóng) Czech: krvavě rudý, rudý (cs) Dutch: bloedrood (nl), rood (nl) Finnish: verenpunainen German: blutrot (de) Irish: fola (ga) Italian: sanguigno (it) Polish: krwawoczerwony (pl), krwistoczerwony (pl) Portuguese: sanguíneo (pt) Russian: кроваво-красный (krovavo-krasnyj) Spanish: rojo (es), sanguíneo (es) Swedish: blodröd (sv) Turkish: kırmızı (tr), kan rengi

having a bodily constitution characterised by a preponderance of blood over the other bodily humours

Bulgarian: сангвиничен (bg) (sangviničen) Czech: sangvinický Danish: sangvinsk Irish: fola (ga) Portuguese: sanguíneo (pt) Swedish: sangvinisk (sv) Ukrainian: сангвінік (sanhvinik)

characterized by abundance and active circulation of blood

Bulgarian: пълнокръвен (bg) (pǎlnokrǎven) Romanian: sangvin (ro) Spanish: sanguíneo (es)

warm; ardent

Czech: živý (cs), vznětlivý, horkokrevný Italian: sanguigno (it) Norwegian: Bokmål: sangvinsk Nynorsk: sangvinsk Spanish: sanguíneo (es) Swedish: sangvinisk (sv) Turkish: sıcak (tr), candan (tr)

anticipating the best

Bulgarian: оптимистичен (bg) (optimističen) Czech: optimistický (cs) Finnish: toiveikas (fi) Irish: dóchasach, dearfach, aigeanta (ga) Italian: ottimista (it) m, confidente (it) m Norwegian: optimistisk Bokmål: sangvinsk Nynorsk: sangvinsk Polish: optymistyczny (pl) m Russian: оптимистичный (ru) (optimističnyj), жизнерадостный (ru) (žizneradostnyj) Swedish: sangvinisk (sv), optimistisk (sv), hoppfull (sv), förtröstansfull (sv) Turkish: iyimser (tr)

Noun

sanguine (countable and uncountable, plural sanguines)

1. Blood colour; red.

   sanguine:  

2. Anything of a blood-red colour, as cloth.
3. (heraldry) A tincture, seldom used, of a blood-red colour (not to be confused with murrey).
4. Bloodstone.
5. Red crayon.

Translations

blood red colour

Chinese: Mandarin: 血红色 (xuèhóngsè) Finnish: verenpunainen Galician: sanguíneo m Italian: sanguigno (it) m Portuguese: sanguíneo (pt) m Spanish: sanguíneo (es) m Turkish: kan rengi, kırmızı (tr), al (tr)

anything of a blood-red colour

bloodstone

French: sanguine (fr) f Polish: heliotrop (pl) m

red crayon

Chinese: Mandarin: 红粉笔 (hóngfěnbǐ) French: sanguine (fr) f Italian: sanguigna (it) f Polish: czerwona kredka f

Verb

sanguine (third-person singular simple present sanguines, present participle sanguining, simple past and past participle sanguined)

1. To stain with blood; to impart the colour of blood to; to ensanguine.

Related terms

• exsanguinate
• sangaree
• sangria

 

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

• sanguine on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Guineans, guanines, uneasing

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃.ɡin/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

sanguine f (plural sanguines)

1. (heraldry) a tincture, seldom used, of a blood-red colour (not to be confused with murrey, which is mûre in French)

Adjective

sanguine

1. feminine singular of sanguin

Further reading

• “sanguine”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaŋ.ɡwi.ne/

Noun

sanguine (uncountable)

1. blood

Related terms

• sanguinee

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Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sanguinem (“blood”), in reference to the red colour/color of the stems.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsan.ɡwi.ne/
• Rhymes: -anɡwine
• Hyphenation: sàn‧gui‧ne

Noun

sanguine m (plural sanguini)

1. (uncountable) Synonym of sanguinella (“common dogwood”)
2. a common dogwood plant

Further reading

• sanguine in Aldo Gabrielli, Grandi Dizionario Italiano (Hoepli)
• sanguine in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
• sanguine in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• sanguine in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsan.ɡʷi.ne/, [ˈs̠äŋɡʷɪnɛ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsan.ɡwi.ne/, [ˈsäŋɡwine]

Noun

sanguine

1. ablative singular of sanguis

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• sanguyn, sangweyne, sangwen, sangewyn, sangwyn, sangwyne, sanguyne, sangueyn

Etymology

From Old French sanguin (and feminine sanguine), from Latin sanguineus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sanˈɡiːn/, /sanˈɡwiːn/, /ˈsanɡin/, /ˈsanɡwin/

Adjective

sanguine

1. Having a bloody-red hue; coloured in sanguine or a similar colour.
2. Under the influence of blood as a cardinal humour (inherently or in the current case)
3. Due to the influence or presence of a dangerous profusion of blood.
4. Made of or created from blood (as a humour); bloody.

Related terms

• sanguinarie
• sanguinolent
• sanguisuge

 

Descendants

• English: sanguine

References

• “sanguin(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-10.

Noun

sanguine (plural sanguynes)

1. A bloody red colour; sanguine or blood red.
2. A kind of fabric that is sanguine-coloured or the colour of blood.
3. Blood as one of the four cardinal humours believed to influence health and mood.
4. (rare) A swollen region or edema attributed to an excess of blood.
5. (rare) A person primarily under the influence of blood as a cardinal humour.

Descendants

• English: sanguine

References

• “sanguin(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-10.

See also

• humour
• (four humours) flewme,‎ coler,‎ malencolie,‎ sanguine ^[edit]
• (qualities of the four humours) fleumatik,‎ colerik,‎ malencolik,‎ sanguine ^[edit]