cinnabar

Etymology

From Old French cinabre.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sĭ ʹ-nə-bär, IPA^(key): /ˈsɪnəbɑɹ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): [ˈsɪ.nə.baː(ɹ)]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [ˈsɪ.nə.bɑː(ɹ)]
• (US) IPA^(key): [ˈsɪ.nə.bɑɹ]

Noun

cinnabar (countable and uncountable, plural cinnabars)

1. A deep red mineral, mercuric sulfide, HgS; the principal ore of mercury; such ore used as the pigment vermilion.
2. A bright red colour tinted with orange.

   cinnabar colour:  

3. (countable) A species of moth, Tyria jacobaeae, having red patches on its predominantly black wings.
   • 2015, Norman Maclean, A Less Green and Pleasant Land, page 223:

     There are a few day-flying exceptions such as hummingbird hawk-moths, silver Ys, cinnabars, scarlet tigers and burnets but, in general, knowledge of moths lags behind that of butterflies.

4. "Cinnabar Panacea"; the Elixir of Life.

Adjective

cinnabar (comparative more cinnabar, superlative most cinnabar)

1. Of a bright red colour tinted with orange.

Quotations

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:cinnabar.

See also

• (reds) red; 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, vermillion, vinaceous, vinous, violet red, wine
• mercury

Further reading

• “Cinnabar” in David Barthelmy, Webmineral Mineralogy Database, 1997–.
• cinnabar mindat.org‎, Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, accessed 29 August 2016