Incarnat

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having a deep crimson or flesh-pink color, as an archaic or poetic term for a vivid reddish hue
2. Describing something colored a rich red tending toward pink, the shade of blood or healthy skin
3. Of a bright, fleshy red shade, a term used mainly in older or literary English to describe color

Etymology: The Latin "incarnatus" meant "made flesh," the phrase used for God taking human form in Christ. Italian painters later used "incarnato" for the pinkish tone of living skin, so the word moved from the act of embodiment to a colour. French took it as "incarnat," a deep red-pink like blood showing through flesh, and English borrowed the colour sense from there. The root is the Latin "caro, carnis," meaning flesh, which also gives us "carnal," "carnivore," and "carnation," the flower named for its flesh-pink petals.

Synonyms: incarnadine, flesh-coloured