kermes

[ kur-meez ]

noun
  1. a red dye formerly prepared from the dried bodies of the females of a scale insect,Kermes ilices, which lives on small, evergreen oaks of the Mediterranean region.

  2. the oak itself, of the genus Quercus coccifera.

Origin of kermes

1
1590–1600; <French kermès<Arabic qirmiz<Persian; replacing earlier chermez<Italian chermes<Arabic as above; see crimson

Words Nearby kermes

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How to use kermes in a sentence

  • In the Middle Ages the dye from the kermes was still called “vermiculata,” of which the word vermilion is a literal translation.

    Needlework As Art | Marian Alford
  • The mineral red now called vermilion must have borrowed its name from the insect dye which the Greeks and Romans called “kermes.”

    Needlework As Art | Marian Alford
  • The Polish kermes (Coccus polonicus) was formerly used very much in Europe.

    The Insect World | Louis Figuier
  • "Grain," therefore, meant a dye of such red as might be produced by the use of kermes or coccum.

  • After the discovery of America, cochineal having been introduced, began to supersede kermes for all brilliant red dyes.

British Dictionary definitions for kermes

kermes

/ (ˈkɜːmɪz) /


noun
  1. the dried bodies of female scale insects of the genus Kermes, esp K. ilices of Europe and W Asia, used as a red dyestuff

  2. a small evergreen Eurasian oak tree, Quercus coccifera, with prickly leaves resembling holly: the host plant of kermes scale insects

Origin of kermes

1
C16: from French kermès, from Arabic qirmiz, from Sanskrit krmija- red dye, literally: produced by a worm, from krmi worm + ja- produced

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012