sienna

[ see-en-uh ]

noun

1. a ferruginous earth used as a yellowish-brown pigment raw sienna or, after roasting in a furnace, as a reddish-brown pigment burnt sienna.
2. the color of such a pigment.

sienna

/ sɪˈɛnə /

noun

1. a natural earth containing ferric oxide used as a yellowish-brown pigment when untreated ( raw sienna ) or a reddish-brown pigment when roasted ( burnt sienna )
2. the colour of this pigment See also burnt sienna

Word History and Origins

Origin of sienna¹

1750–60; < Italian ( terra di ) Sien ( n ) a (earth of ) Siena

Word History and Origins

Origin of sienna¹

C18: from Italian terra di Siena earth of Siena

Example Sentences

The soundtrack’s low rumble swells into a roar, while a quick dusty glimpse of desert floor in glowing raw sienna slams the boundless sky into the circumscribed earth.

From Los Angeles Times

“We chose this beautiful sienna, saffron color that evokes the sunset, because this is the sunset before the golden hour,” Love said.

From Seattle Times

Like most colors, it has a long and fascinating history, from umber in prehistoric cave paintings to sepia ink used by the ancient Greeks and Romans to raw sienna used by Renaissance artists.

From Seattle Times

The décor is a crucial step up from Ikea — anodyne good taste, in shades of sienna and blue-gray, with a pop of burnt orange.

From New York Times

“If I if I sell you a tube of ‘burnt sienna,’ that is God’s honest burnt sienna, dug up out of the ground, burned in an oven,” Cole says.

From Washington Post