russet

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: rŭs'ət, IPA: /ˈrʌsət/, X-SAMPA: /"rVs@t/
• Rhymes: -ʌsɪt

Etymology

Middle English, from Old French rousset, from rous, from Latin russus (“reddish”)

Noun

russet (countable and uncountable; plural russets)

1. A coarse, reddish-brown, homespun fabric.
2. Country dress; homespun cloth.
3. A reddish-brown color.

   russet colour:

4. Variety of apple of russet-colored, rough skin.
5. Variety of potato with dark gray-brown, rough skin.

Translations

fabric

• Swedish: vadmal (sv) n and c (historical in this tense: red-brown, coarse fabric)

color

• Japanese: あずき色 (azukiiro)

potato

Adjective

russet (comparative more russet, superlative most russet)

1. Having a reddish-brown color.
2. Gray or ash-colored (antiquated usage).

   "Russet-pated" (gray hair). Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, iii. 2.

3. Rustic, homespun, coarse, plain.

   Shakespeare, Loves Labour's Lost, V. 2

4. "Condition of leather when it is finished, excepting the operations of coloring and polishing the surface." (From 1880s British/American dictionary.)

Translations

color

• Japanese: あずき色の (azukiiro no)

• Swedish: rödbrun (sv)

Derived terms

• russet apple (see above)
• russet potato (see above)
• russeting

See also

• Appendix:Colors

Anagrams

• estrus
• struse
• surest