cochineal

Syllables: coch·i·neal/ˌkɒt͡ʃɪˈniːl/US/ˌkɑt͡ʃɪˈni(ə)l/

cochineal noun: a scale insect of the species Dactylopius coccus, native to the tropical and subtropical Americas, which lives on prickly pear cacti (genus Opuntia).

Noun

cochineal (countable and uncountable, plural cochineals)

(countable) A scale insect of the species Dactylopius coccus, native to the tropical and subtropical Americas, which lives on prickly pear cacti (genus Opuntia).
- The Cochineel is an Inſect, bred in a ſort of Fruit much like the Prickle Pear. […] The Silveſter gives a colour almoſt as fair as the Cochineel; and ſo like it as to be often miſtaken for it, but it is not near ſo valuable.1697, William Dampier, chapter VIII, in A New Voyage Round the World. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, pages 228–229
- A prodigious quantity of insects of all sorts (but no mosquitoes) assailed us at our evening meal. […] There were some that were larger—earwigs, cochineals, a little mole-cricket, and an enormous mantis. I stuffed a number of them into my poison-bottle.1930, André Gide, “Back Again”, in Dorothy Bussy, transl., Travels in the Congo […], red seal edition, New York, N.Y.: Modern Age Books, published 1937, →OCLC, part 2 (Back from the Chad), page 194
(uncountable) A vivid red dye made from the dried bodies of cochineal insects.
- Or if you can finde the berrie of Cochenile with whiche wee colour Stammelles, or any Roote, Berrie, Fruite, wood or earth fitte for dying, you winne a notable thing fitt for our ſtate of clothing. This Cochenile is naturall in the west Indies on that firme.1527, R[ichard] H[akluyt], compiler, “Notes Framed by a Gentleman heretofore to bee Giuen to One that Prepared for a Discouerie, and Went Not: And Not Unfitt to be Committed to Print, Considering the...
- Cociniglia, a kinde of rich flie or graine comming out of India to dye ſcarlet vvith, called Cutchenele.[1598, John Florio, “Cociniglia”, in A Worlde of Words, or Most Copious, and Exact Dictionarie in Italian and English, […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield for Edw[ard] Blount, →OCLC, page 75, column 3
Synonyms:

E120
(uncountable) The vivid red colour of this dye.
- And I to make all knovv, I am not ſhallovv / VVill have my points [i.e., lace] of Cucchineale and yellovv.c. 1621–1623 (date written), Philip Massinger, The Maid of Honour. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1632, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, signature [K4], recto
- These days, I'm an apprentice at a tattoo shop on Sunset. […] I just keep staring at all the ink we have, that wild variety of color, everything from rootbeer, midnight blue and cochineal to mauve, light doe, lilac, south sea green, maize, even pelican black, all lined up in these plastic caps, […]2000, Zampanò [pseudonym; Mark Z. Danielewski], “The Navidson Record. Chapter IV.”, in House of Leaves, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Pantheon Books, →ISBN, footnote 33, page 26

Adjective

cochineal (not comparable)

Possessing a vivid red colour, as or as if produced from dyeing with cochineal dye (noun sense 2).
- Batavus [a tulip variety], of somewhat the same shade, was slightly taller, and perhaps with a little more cochineal color.1936 June, R. M. H., “The Cottage Tulips”, in Breeze Hill News, volume II, number 10, Harrisburg, Pa.: J[ohn] Horace McFarland Company, Mount Pleasant Press, →OCLC
- The principal imports arriving by sea, then as previously, were textiles, among them coarse cotton cloth, known as Surat, the Indian port from which they were shipped, as well as blue cotton cloth and cochineal cloth called kemis, fine cloth from various parts of India, coarse white cotton cloth...1997, Richard Pankhurst, “The North: The Land of the Afars, the Country of Bahr Nägash, and Massawa”, in The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the...

cochineal meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Arabic

cochineal in Hindi

scale insect of the species Dactylopius coccus: क़िरमिज़ qirmiz
vivid red dye made from the dried bodies of cochineal insects; vivid red colour of this dye: क़िरमिज़ qirmiz

cochineal in Tamil

scale insect of the species Dactylopius coccus: ஈயன்மூதாய் īyaṉmūtāy

cochineal in Arabic

scale insect of the species Dactylopius coccus: دودة قرمزية

More languagesFewer languages

cochineal in Persian: قرمزدانه مکزیکی
cochineal in Vietnamese: bọ yên chi, rệp son

Synonyms of cochineal

E120

Forms of cochineal

plural	cochineals
alternative form	cochinille

Origin of cochineal

The noun is borrowed from Middle French cochenille (modern French cochenille), from Italian cocciniglia or Spanish cochinilla; further etymology uncertain, possibly from Latin coccineus, coccinus (“scarlet-dyed; scarlet in colour”) (whence Italian coccineo (“scarlet in colour”)) + Italian -iglia (suffix forming collective nouns), Spanish -illa (“diminutive suffix”). Coccinus is derived from Ancient Greek κόκκῐνος (kókkĭnos, “scarlet; (figurative) blushing”, adjective), from κόκκος (kókkos, “kermes oak (Quercus coccifera); insect of the genus Kermes living on the oak; scarlet dye made from crushed kermes insects”) (possibly from Pre-Greek) + -ῐνος (-ĭnos, suffix forming adjectives). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, cochineal is not derived from Spanish cochinilla (“pill bug, especially the common pill bug (Armadillidium vulgare)”), a diminutive of cochina (“female pig, sow”) (from the animal’s shape), which coincidentally has the same spelling as cochinilla (“cochineal”). The adjective is derived from the noun.

Words formed from cochineal

cochenillin
cochinealed
cochineal fig
cochineal tree
lac cochineal

Phrases with cochineal

cochineal figs

Words that rhyme with cochineal

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about cochineal

What does cochineal mean?: Cochineal means a scale insect of the species Dactylopius coccus, native to the tropical and subtropical Americas, which lives on prickly pear cacti (genus Opuntia).
What is cochineal in Hindi?: Cochineal in Hindi is क़िरमिज़ (qirmiz). See Cochineal meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is cochineal?: Cochineal can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce cochineal?: Cochineal is pronounced /ˌkɒt͡ʃɪˈniːl/ (UK).
What is the plural of cochineal?: The plural of cochineal is cochineals.

Words near cochineal in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: cochineal (page history and authors); cochineal (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cochineal.wav.

Cite this entry: “cochineal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cochineal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.