kermes

American  

[kur-meez] / ˈkɜr miz /

noun

1. a red dye formerly prepared from the dried bodies of the females of a scale insect, Kermes ilices, which lives on small, evergreen oaks of the Mediterranean region.

2. the oak itself, of the genus Quercus coccifera.

---

kermes British  

/ ˈkɜːmɪz /

noun

1. the dried bodies of female scale insects of the genus Kermes, esp K. ilices of Europe and W Asia, used as a red dyestuff

2. a small evergreen Eurasian oak tree, Quercus coccifera , with prickly leaves resembling holly: the host plant of kermes scale insects

---

Etymology

Origin of kermes

1590–1600; < French kermès < Arabic qirmiz < Persian; replacing earlier chermez < Italian chermes < Arabic as above; crimson

Example Sentences

Before manufacturers could produce them artificially, reds came from minerals, bugs, plants: madder root, kermes, cochineal, brazil wood, cinnabar.

From Slate • Aug. 12, 2019

Red cloth in this period was dyed using four main dyestuffs - madder, kermes, cochineal and lichen dyes.

From BBC • Sep. 19, 2014

Of these the most expensive was kermes, a dye made from the desiccated bodies of insects, which produced a luscious, deep crimson.

From BBC • Sep. 19, 2014

It takes 10 to 12 lb. of kermes to produce as red a color as one pound of cochineal.

From Time Magazine Archive

This furnishes what the ignorant-learned long called grains of kermes, looking like dried currants, which they mistook for the fruit of a tree, while it is, in truth, the dried body of an insect.

From The Actress in High Life An Episode in Winter Quarters by Bowen, Sue Petigru