cinnabar
UK /ˈsɪn.əˌbɑː(ɹ)/ · US /ˈsɪn.əˌbɑɹ/ noun, adjective
Forms cinnabars
- noun A deep red mineral, mercuric sulfide, HgS; the principal ore of mercury; such ore used as the pigment vermilion.
- noun A bright red colour tinted with orange.
- noun (countable) A species of erebid moth, Tyria jacobaeae, having red patches on its predominantly black wings.
- noun Synonym of dragon's blood (“type of resin”).
- adjective Of a bright red colour tinted with orange.
Synonyms
æthiops mineral cinnabar moth dragon's blood Callimorpha jacobeae vermilion vermillion Chinese-red
Etymology
First attested in the mid-15th century. From Middle English cynabare, from Old French cinabre, from Latin cinnabaris, from Ancient Greek κιννάβαρι (kinnábari), of unknown origin.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Red sulphide of mercury, occurring in brilliant red crystals, and also in red or brown amorphous masses. It is used in medicine.
- noun The artificial red sulphide of mercury used as a pigment; vermilion. Cinnabar Græcorum (. Etym: [L. Graecorum, gen. pl., of the Greeks.] (Med.) Same as Dragon's blood.
Etymology [L. cinnabaris, Gr. qinbar, Hind. shangarf.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cinnabar”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details