# crimson
## English
### Etymology

* PIE word
* *kʷŕ̥mis
Late Middle English cremesyn, from obsolete French cramoisin or Old Spanish cremesín, from Arabic قِرْمِز (qirmiz), from Classical Persian کرمست (kirmist), from Middle Persian; see Proto-Indo-Iranian *kŕ̥miš. Cognate with Sanskrit कृमिज (kṛmija). Doublet of kermes; also see carmine.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈkɹɪmzən/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ˈkɹɪmzən/, /ˈkɹɪmsən/
* Rhymes: -ɪmzən, -ɪmsən

### Noun

crimson (countable and uncountable, plural crimsons)
* A deep, slightly bluish red.
    crimson:
** 1904 January 30, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Priory School”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905, →OCLC:To my horror I perceived that the yellow blossoms were all dabbled with crimson.

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Adjective

crimson (comparative more crimson, superlative most crimson)
* Having a deep red colour.
** 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 168:Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
** 1950, Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast:Her crimson dress inflames grey corridors, or flaring in a sunshaft through high branches makes of the deep green shadows a greenness darker yet, and a darkness greener.
* Immodest. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

#### Translations
### Verb

crimson (third-person singular simple present crimsons, present participle crimsoning, simple past and past participle crimsoned)
* (intransitive) To become crimson or deep red; to blush.
** 1841, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XIII, in Night and Morning […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC:Eugenie's quick apprehensions seized the foul thought. Her eyes flashed—her cheek crimsoned.
** 1885, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Ring” in The Poetical Works of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, New York and Boston: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., Volume 2, p. 662,
    Father. Why do you look so gravely at the tower?
    Miram. I never saw it yet so all ablaze
    With creepers crimsoning to the pinnacles,
** 1922 February, James Joyce, “[13]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:Gerty MacDowell bent down her head and crimsoned at the idea of Cissy saying an unladylike thing like that out loud she'd be ashamed of her life to say, flushing a deep rosy red, and Edy Boardman said she was sure the gentleman opposite heard what she said. But not a pin cared Ciss.
* (transitive) To dye with crimson or deep red; to redden.
** 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:Here didst thou fall; and here thy hunters stand, Sign’d in thy spoil, and crimson’d in thy lethe.
** 1811, [Jane Austen], Sense and Sensibility […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 153:Her face was crimsoned over, and she exclaimed, in a voice of the greatest emotion, “Good God! Willoughby, what is the meaning of this? […] ”
** 1936, William Faulkner, chapter 5, in Absalom, Absalom!‎, New York: Modern Library, published 1951, page 138:[…] that sheetless bed (that nuptial couch of love and grief) with the pale and bloody corpse in its patched and weathered gray crimsoning the bare mattress […]

#### Translations
### Derived terms

* alizarin crimson
* Crimhead
* crimson clover
* crimson finch
* crimsonish
* crimson lake
* crimsonly
* crimsonness
* crimson rosella
* crimson tide
* crimson wave
* crimsonwing
* crimson-winged woodpecker
* crimsony
* dark crimson underwing
* encrimson
* masked crimson tanager

### Related terms

* kermes
* carmine

### See also

* blood red
* brick red
* burgundy
* cardinal
* carmine
* carnation
* cerise
* cherry
* cherry red
* Chinese red
* cinnabar
* claret
* crimson
* damask
* fire brick
* fire engine red
* flame
* flamingo
* fuchsia
* garnet
* geranium
* gules
* hot pink
* incarnadine
* Indian red
* magenta
* maroon
* misty rose
* nacarat
* oxblood
* pillar-box red
* pink
* Pompeian red
* poppy
* raspberry
* red violet
* rose
* rouge
* ruby
* ruddy
* salmon
* sanguine
* scarlet
* shocking pink
* stammel
* strawberry
* Turkey red
* Venetian red
* vermilion
* vinaceous
* vinous
* violet red
* wine

### Further reading

* James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Crimson”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* microns