vermeil
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English vermayle, from Old French vermeil (“vermilion”), from Latin vermiculus (“little worm”), from vermis (“worm”), ultimately in reference to Kermes vermilio, a type of scale insect used to make a crimson dye.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
vermeil (comparative more vermeil, superlative most vermeil)
- (poetic, now rare) Bright scarlet, vermilion.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- And in her cheekes the vermeill red did shew / Like roses in a bed of lillies shed […].
- 1818, John Keats, Endymion[1], Book I, lines 49-51:
- Many and many a verse I hope to write,
Before the daisies, vermeil rimm’d and white,
Hide in deep herbage;
- (poetic, now rare) Specifically of faces, lips etc.: red, ruddy, healthy-looking.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 36, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
- his carriage; demeanor, and venerable behaviour, in a face so young, vermeill, and heart enflaming […].
Noun edit
vermeil (plural vermeils)
- (poetic) Vermilion; bright red.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- The mortall steele stayed not till it was seene / To gore her side; yet was the wound not deepe, / But lightly rased her soft silken skin, / That drops of purple blood thereout did weepe, / Which did her lilly smock with staines of vermeil steep.
- Silver gilt or gilt bronze.
- A liquid composition applied to a gilded surface to give luster to the gold.
Related terms edit
Anagrams edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Middle French vermeil, from Old French vermeil, syncopated form of Latin vermiculus (“little worm”).
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
vermeil (feminine vermeille, masculine plural vermeils, feminine plural vermeilles)
Noun edit
vermeil m (plural vermeils)
- vermeil (gold-plated silver with a reddish hue)
Further reading edit
- “vermeil”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French edit
Etymology edit
From Old French vermeil.
Adjective edit
vermeil m (feminine singular vermeille, masculine plural vermeils, feminine plural vermeilles)
Descendants edit
- French: vermeil
References edit
- vermeil on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
Old French edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Vulgar Latin *vermiclus, syncopated form of Latin vermiculus (“little worm”).
Adjective edit
vermeil m (oblique and nominative feminine singular vermeile)