Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A strong to vivid red.
- n. A crimson pigment derived from cochineal.
- adj. Strong to vivid red.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The pure coloring matter or principle of cochineal, to which the formula C17H18O10 has been assigned. It forms a purple mass soluble in water.
- n. That one of two or more lakes of different strengths prepared from the same coloring matter which contains the greatest proportion of coloring matter to the base, which is generally alumina.
- n. Specifically A pigment made from cochineal. It is a transparent crimson of considerable luminosity and intense chroma. It is prepared from a decoction of cochineal, the coloring matter being precipitated by some aluminous salt, forming a lake.
Wiktionary
- n. A purplish-red pigment, made from dye obtained from the cochineal beetle; carminic acid or any of its derivatives
- n. A purplish-red colour, resembling that pigment.
- adj. of the purplish red colour shade carmine.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A rich red or crimson color with a shade of purple.
- n. A beautiful pigment, or a lake, of this color, prepared from cochineal, and used in miniature painting.
- n. (Chem.) The essential coloring principle of cochineal, extracted as a purple-red amorphous mass. It is a glucoside and possesses acid properties; -- hence called also
carminic acid .
WordNet 3.0
- n. a variable color averaging a vivid red
- adj. of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies
- v. color carmine
Etymologies
- From French carmin, from irregular Medieval Latin carminium, itself from Arabic قرمز (qirmiz, "crimson, kermes") (from Sanskrit krimiga "insect-produced", from कृमि (kṛ́mi, "worm, insect")), plus or with influence from Latin minium. (Wiktionary)
- French carmin, from Medieval Latin carminium, probably blend of Arabic qirmiz, kermes; see kermes, and Latin minium, cinnabar; see minium. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Red beverages -- including Campari and Tropicana Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice -- are often colored with cochineal, aka carmine, a dye derived from insects.”
The Huffington Post: Anneli Rufus: Are Animals in Your Cocktail?
“Many cosmetics' ingredients include beeswax, especially lipsticks, as well as lanolin a derivative of sheep's wool, and carmine, which is produced from the bodies of bugs.”
The Huffington Post: Maya Gottfried: Taking the Cruelty Out of the Fall's Hottest Makeup Trends
“Each is defined as a carmine lake, and published instructions to create them are similar; Schäffer also includes carmine in his hierarchy of red colors. 2 Schäffer's system suggests that the three are separate colors; did he learn their differences from his color merchant?”
“Some food dyes aren't vegan; red pigment can be cochineal or carmine, which is insects!”
“Produced by adding aqueous ferrate of potash to an excess of dilute solutions of baryta salts, has been described as carmine-coloured and permanent.”
Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists
“The artist would, however, do well to obtain, all the colors mentioned in the last chapter of this work, and be sure to get the very best, as there are various qualities of the same color, particularly carmine, which is very expensive, and the cupidity of some may induce them to sell a poor article for the sake of larger profits.”
“Another scary and buggy additive to know about is carmine, which is made from the cochineal beetle and generally used as a red food dye”
“This article just drew my attention to the interesting story behind carmine, which is a pigment precipitated from carminic acid (shown below) extracted from the bodies of Dactylopius coccus, the so-called "cochineal" insect, of which the acid comprises up to 24% of dry body weight.”
“Some people worry that the coloring -- often called carmine or carminic acid -- could be listed as a "natural color," disguising the fact that there are bugs in the product.”
“But earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration imposed a rule saying that any food or cosmetic containing cochineal, or a related additive called carmine, be labeled as such.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘carmine’.
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Reds
crimson, blood, scarlet, rott, rojo, brick, fire engine, vermilion, carmine, burgundy, amaranth, alizarin and 115 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Of Arabic Origin
Arabic loanwords in English are words acquired directly from Arabic or else indirectly by passing from Arabic into other languages and then into English. Most entered one or more of the Romance lan...
admiral, adobe, albatross, alchemy, alcohol, alcove, alembic, alfalfa, algebra, algorism, algorithm, alidade and 181 more...
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Uncommon Colours
azure, myrtle, periwinkle, viridian, jade, emerald, lime, chartreuse, asparagus, celadon, harlequin, olive and 147 more...
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Colors/Patterns/Prints/Textures
fritillary, chartreuse, tortoise-shell, brindle, burnt orange, cerulean, amaranth, sandy, amber, mold, fungus, kiwi and 65 more...
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color me mauve
color words
albescent, ecru, eggshell, mauve, taupe, ochre, ashen, goldenrod, gamboge, cream, saffron, mustard and 109 more...
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Words grabbed from real life conversa...
If I've seen it, heard it, or marvelled at it, I'll stick it here.
cruft, ermine, redundant, shakespearean, camino, marvelous, stupendous, chagrin, shaven, sleek, smug, stillness and 325 more...
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dark and bright words of shine and fi...
scotophil, scotoma, scotia, shed, shadow, shade, scone, whiting, edelweiss, light, lightning, lucina and 349 more...
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azd's Words
adamantine, abatial, ablate, ablative, abrogate, accretive, acromegaly, acrostic, actinism, actinic, acuity, adduce and 968 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (C)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
cacophony, cad, cajole, calamity, camomile, camphor, candlemas, candy apple, canopy, canticle, caparison, caravan and 304 more...
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ifjuly's list
favorite words. some are made up injokes between me and my husband or family.
skein, zaftig, july, bed, orifice, aesthete, ink, parce-que, desormais, cake, pusillanimous, pulse and 531 more...
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Dyes & Pigments
gamboge, anil, catechu, cinnabar, vermilion, ponceau, cochineal, kermes, lac, eosin, azure, indigo and 134 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, C
cryptoxanthin, convent, calcar, chuckle, campanile, covet, complexion, campestral, chirography, counterscarp, caliginous, catabolism and 722 more...
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Chromonyms
These chromonyms are defined as colors in at least one dictionary (mostly MW3). (Actually there's one fake, for reasons I'll explain someday.) They are all one-word nouns such as "kelly", which can...
absinthe, acacia, acorn, alabaster, alesan, almond, aloma, amaranth, amber, amethyst, anemone, anil and 821 more...
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wordrainbow
A big list of color names for use on wordrainbow.com
emerald, cherry, coffee, cream, almond, gold, kiwi, green, grass green, aquamarine, beet red, sepia and 714 more...
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Colors
cerise, carnelian, florid, claret, watchet, rosaceous, coquelicot, vermilion, celadon, nacreous, lapis, viridescent and 132 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for carmine.

bilby Sometimes hidden on the ingredients list as colouring 120 or E120. Jan 5, 2011
bilby "Is this car mine?" asked Tom colourfully. Dec 21, 2007