Dictionary.com
definitions

carmine

[kahr-min, -mahyn]
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR carmine ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a crimson or purplish-red color.
a crimson pigment obtained from cochineal.

RELATED CONTENT

Wednesday Winner: MellifluousToday’s Word of the Day was chosen by actor and logophile Matthew MacCaull of Vancouver, Canada. MacCaull has acted in several TV series and  films including Disney’s Tomorrowland and the drama iZombie. We thought he picked mellifluous because he writes music in addition to acting, but MacCaull was inspired by the TV show The Sopranos: “Little Carmine was famous for always using big words inappropriately. But …
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

color, crimson, cherry, scarlet

Nearby words

  1. carmen sylva,
  2. carmichael,
  3. carmichael, hoagy,
  4. carmichael, stokely,
  5. carminative,
  6. carminophil,
  7. carmustine,
  8. carn,
  9. carnaby street,
  10. carnac

Origin of carmine

1705–15; < French carmin (color), carmine (pigment), Old French; compare Medieval Latin carminium, perhaps blend of carmesīnum (see crimson) and minium minium
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for carmine

British Dictionary definitions for carmine

carmine

noun

  1. a vivid red colour, sometimes with a purplish tinge
  2. (as adjective)carmine paint
a pigment of this colour obtained from cochineal

Word Origin for carmine

C18: from Medieval Latin carmīnus, from Arabic qirmiz kermes
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
Word Origin and History for carmine

carmine

n.

1712, originally of the dyestuff, from French carmin (12c.), from Medieval Latin carminium, from Arabic qirmiz "crimson" (see kermes). Form influenced in Latin by minium "red lead, cinnabar," a word said to be of Iberian origin. As an adjective from 1737; as a color name from 1799.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for carmine

carmine

[kär′mĭn, -mīn′]

n.

A crimson pigment derived from cochineal.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.