Word.ws English Dictionary

kermes

US/ˈkɝ.miz/

kermes noun: any of several insects of the genus Kermes.

Noun

kermes (countable and uncountable, plural kermes)

  1. (countable) Any of several insects of the genus Kermes.
  2. (uncountable) A crimson dye made from the crushed bodies of these insects.

kermes meaning in Hindi and Urdu

kermes in Hindi

the insect or the dye — see also carmine
किरिमदाना kirimdānā, क़िरमिज़ qirmiz, क़िरमिज़ी qirmizī, किरमिजी kirmijī

kermes in Urdu

kermes ; cochineal
قرمز qirmiz

Forms of kermes

pluralkermes
alternative formchermes
alternative formchermez
alternative formkermez

Origin of kermes

PIE word *kʷŕ̥mis First attested ca. 1600, from French kermès, from Medieval Latin cremesinus (compare Italian chermes, Spanish carmes), from Arabic قِرْمِز (qirmiz) (whence also Portuguese quermes, alquermes), from a Persian word meaning “worm-colored” (compare modern Persian قرمز (qermez)), ultimately Proto-Indo-Iranian *kŕ̥miš (“worm”), possibly via borrowing from a Sanskrit formation. Related to carmine and crimson. For the semantic development, compare vermilion from Latin vermis (“worm”) and its cognates.

Words formed from kermes

Phrases with kermes

Questions about kermes

What does kermes mean?
Kermes means any of several insects of the genus Kermes.
What is kermes in Hindi?
Kermes in Hindi is किरिमदाना (kirimdānā), क़िरमिज़ (qirmiz), क़िरमिज़ी (qirmizī). See Kermes meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is kermes?
Kermes is a noun.
How do you pronounce kermes?
Kermes is pronounced /ˈkɝ.miz/ (US).
What is the plural of kermes?
The plural of kermes is kermes.

Words near kermes in the dictionary

  1. Kermans
  2. Kermanshah
  3. Kermanshahan
  4. Kermanshahi
  5. kermas
  6. kermes
  7. kermes oak
  8. kermes oaks
  9. kermesic acid
  10. kermesid
  11. kermesids

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kermes (page history and authors); قرمز (Urdu) (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:

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

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