vermilion

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“
"It is of no use to thwart one's children," said the Raja and at once sent messengers to bring the stranger to marry his daughter When the disguised Princess was brought before the Raja, she said that she had no objection to being married provided that it was done according to the custom of her own country, and that was that the vermilion should be applied to the bride's forehead with a sword.

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Definitions (21)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. noun A bright red mercuric sulfide used as a pigment.
  2. noun A vivid red to reddish orange. Also called Chinese red, cinnabar.
  3. adjective Of a vivid red to reddish orange.
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Examples (50)

  • Their banners were vermilion, and forked right up to the lance, and on the ends of the lances they had carved horse-heads, which looked like the heads of devils Some of the merchants of Cairo pursued the Sultan with clamours for justice on Count Walter, in return for all the mischief he had done them; so the Sultan made him over to them that they might wreak their vengeance on him. —  The Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville
  • For the bride was a stout household quean; her face painted with vermilion, and her person arrayed in uncouth embroidered garments. —  The Life of Lord Byron
  • The vermilion, the surrounding tissue, to be exact Jeez Exactly. —  CourtingTrouble
  • His gun is lavishly decorated with brass tacks and vermilion, and provided with a fringed cover, occasionally of buckskin, ornamented here and there with a feather. —  The Adventures of Captain Bonneville
  • Every time my brush goes near the vermilion, and I move my stool, her eyes brighten. —  The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2 No 4, October, 1862 Devoted To Literature And National Policy
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English vermelion, from Old French vermeillon, from vermeil; see vermeil.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly also vermillion, virmilion; Old French vermillon, a bright red, also the kermes-insect, also a little word, French vermilion, vermilion (= Spanish bermellon = Portuguese vermelhão = Italian vermiglione, vermilion), from vermeil, bright-red: see vermeil.
 

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/vərˈmɪlyən/
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