cinnabar
Americannoun
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a mineral, mercuric sulfide, HgS, occurring in red crystals or masses: the principal ore of mercury.
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red mercuric sulfide, used as a pigment.
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bright red; vermillion.
noun
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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
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the red form of mercuric sulphide (mercury(II) sulphide), esp when used as a pigment
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a bright red to reddish-orange; vermilion
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a large red-and-black European moth, Callimorpha jacobaeae: family Arctiidae (tiger moths, etc)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cinnabar
1350–1400; < Latin cinnabaris < Greek kinnábari < ?; replacing Middle English cynoper < Medieval Latin, Latin as above
Vocabulary lists containing cinnabar
Red
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Orange
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Egyptians thought green copper ore helped eye inflammation, the Chinese used cinnabar for heartburn, and Native Americans used clay to reduce soreness and inflammation.
From Science Daily ● May 31, 2024
The peacock butterfly caterpillars flailed their bodies—and even bit at the electrodes—about 1.4 times longer, whereas the cinnabar and vapourer caterpillars spent 175 times and 3.3 times longer coiled into tight balls.
From Science Magazine ● May 20, 2024
Her house's door and window is painted red after the colouring of the cinnabar ore.
From Reuters ● May 11, 2023
Never mind the adjective, I was mercury: quicksilver, Hg, hydrargyrum, ore of cinnabar, resistant to herding, incapable of assuming a fixed form.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2022
Always didactic, he went into a learned exposition of the diabolical properties of cinnabar, but Úrsula paid no attention to him, although she took the children off to pray.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
