cinnabar

[ sin-uh-bahr ]

noun

a mineral, mercuric sulfide, HgS, occurring in red crystals or masses: the principal ore of mercury.
red mercuric sulfide, used as a pigment.

bright red; vermillion.

Origin of cinnabar

1350–1400; <Latin cinnabaris<Greek kinnábari< ?; replacing Middle English cynoper<Medieval Latin, Latin as above

Other words from cinnabar

cin·na·bar·ine [sin-uh-buh-reen, -ber-in, -bahr-ahyn, -een], /ˈsɪn ə bəˌrin, -bər ɪn, -ˌbɑr aɪn, -in/, cin·na·bar·ic [sin-uh-bar-ik], /ˌsɪn əˈbær ɪk/, adjective

Words Nearby cinnabar

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cinnabar in a sentence

Those ancient people, then, may have encountered cinnabar in their life.
These skeletons might be evidence of the oldest known mercury poisonings | Rahul Rao | November 22, 2021 | Popular-Science
What they do know, however, is that the Copper Age’s elaborate mass burials gave way to simpler, smaller tombs, and that cinnabar faded away.
These skeletons might be evidence of the oldest known mercury poisonings | Rahul Rao | November 22, 2021 | Popular-Science
If you breathe cinnabar powder in, or if it makes skin contact—perhaps, by wearing vermillion-dyed clothes—it will enter your bloodstream.
These skeletons might be evidence of the oldest known mercury poisonings | Rahul Rao | November 22, 2021 | Popular-Science
cinnabar, when ground very fine, will make a beautiful red paint.
St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878 | Various
It forms part of a soft, red rock called cinnabar, composed of mercury and sulphur.
St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878 | Various

Them men as works in cinnabar sooner or later gets salviated.
Mrs. Skaggs's Husbands and Other Stories | Bret Harte
Then we had the cinnabar mines—you may see them along the slope to northward, right over the west end of the town.
Wandering Heath | Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
cinnabar 278 was occupied on the 21st in the morning, and a heavy contribution raised.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. XXII (of 25) | Robert Louis Stevenson

British Dictionary definitions for cinnabar

cinnabar

/ (ˈsɪnəˌbɑː) /

noun

a bright red or brownish-red mineral form of mercuric sulphide (mercury(II) sulphide), found close to areas of volcanic activity and hot springs. It is the main commercial source of mercury. Formula: HgS. Crystal structure: hexagonal
the red form of mercuric sulphide (mercury(II) sulphide), esp when used as a pigment

a bright red to reddish-orange; vermilion
a large red-and-black European moth, Callimorpha jacobaeae: family Arctiidae (tiger moths, etc)

Origin of cinnabar

C15: from Old French cenobre, from Latin cinnābaris, from Greek kinnabari, of Oriental origin

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

Browse