Nacarats

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Shades of a bright, warm orange-red colour, often associated with mother-of-pearl or fine textiles
2. Vivid orange-red hues resembling the glow of certain shells or the tones used in old fabric dyes
3. Deep, glowing tones of orange tinged with red, used to describe a rich colour in art and cloth

Etymology: Nacarat is a deep, rosy orange-red, and its name traces back to an Arabic word for a drum. The Arabic "naqqara" meant "small drum," derived from "naqara," meaning "to hollow out." The idea of a hollowed shape passed through Spanish or Portuguese "nacarado," meaning "mother-of-pearl" or "nacre-like," before reaching French as "nacarat." Nacre, the iridescent lining of certain shells, shares this lineage, so the colour name and the word for pearly shell are close cousins. This is the plural form of "nacarat," so the word refers to several shades of that colour, or to more than one such thing. The singular noun was borrowed into English from French, and the plural follows the usual English pattern.