rosso

Etymology

From Latin russus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈros.so/, [ˈr̺os̪s̪o]

• Audio

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• Stress: rósso
• Hyphenation: ros‧so

Adjective

rosso (feminine singular rossa, masculine plural rossi, feminine plural rosse)

1. red
2. (of hair) ginger, red
   • c. 1795, Vincenzo Monti, Opere inedite e rare: di Vincenzo Monti‎, by Urbano Lampredi, published 1843, page 126:

     Costui, rosso di pel, Foscolo è detto

     He, of red hair, is called Foscolo

3. (figuratively) incandescent, red hot
   • 1321, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno [The Divine Comedy: Hell] (paperback, in Italian), 12th edition, Le Monnier, published 1994, Canto VIII, lines 73–75, page 124:

     […] Ed ei mi disse: «Il foco etterno ¶ ch'entro l'affoca le dimostra rosse, ¶ come tu vedi in questo basso inferno».

     And he to me: "The fire eternal ¶ that kindles them within makes them look red, ¶ as thou beholdest in this nether Hell".

Noun

rosso m (plural rossi)

1. red (any of a range of colours)
   • 1321, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno [The Divine Comedy: Hell] (paperback, in Italian), 12th edition, Le Monnier, published 1994, Canto X, lines 85–87, page 158:

     Ond' io a lui: «Lo strazio e 'l grande scempio ¶ che fece l'Arbia colorata in rosso, ¶ tal orazion fa far nel nostro tempio».

     Whence I to him: "The slaughter and great carnage ¶ which have with crimson stained the Arbia, cause ¶ such orisons in our temple to be made."

2. Any red pigment.
3. (metonymically, sometimes derogatory) A Socialist or Communist.
4. (heraldry) gules

Derived terms

See also

Anagrams

• sorso