Kermes

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkɝ.miz/

Definitions

1. A type of scale insect that produces a red dye from its body
2. A genus of scale insects known for the vivid red pigment derived from the females
3. An insect whose dried bodies can be used as a coloring agent in food and textiles

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "kermes" is that it began as a word for a worm. Persian speakers called the scale insects that live on certain Mediterranean oak trees "worm-coloured," and that name passed through Arabic, where it became "qirmiz," and then into Medieval Latin as "cremesinus." From there it reached French as "kermès," and English took it around 1600. The insects were harvested for their dried bodies, which yielded a deep red dye. The same root gave us "crimson" and "carmine," so the colour's name has travelled a long way from the creatures that produced it. Its ancestry also matches "vermilion," from Latin "vermis," meaning worm, which shows the same pattern of naming a red substance after a worm.