Word.ws English Dictionary

vermilion

/vəˈmɪl.jən/US/vɚˈmɪl.jən/

vermilion noun: a vivid red synthetic pigment made of mercury sulfide, cinnabar.

Noun

vermilion (countable and uncountable, plural vermilions)

  1. A vivid red synthetic pigment made of mercury sulfide, cinnabar.
    • Take ſix Ounces of Brimſtone, and melt it in an Iron Ladle, then put two Pound of Quick-ſilver into a ſhammy Leather, or double Linnen Cloth, and ſqueeze it out into the melted Brimſtone, ſtirring them, in the mean Time, with a wooden Spatula till they are well united; and when they are cold, beat...1734, “VERMILION”, in The Builder's Dictionary: Or, Architect's Companion, volume II, London: Printed for A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch, […] and S. Austen, […]
    • Fanny was very pretty; her eyes were dark and brilliant, her teeth were like little pearls; her mouth was almost as red as Mademoiselle Caracoline’s when the latter had put on her vermilion.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 47, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published...
  2. A bright orange-red colour.
    • While this particular difference in the shade of vermilion is very striking in the symmetrical, smooth skins of even and regular make, which I have just compared, I must confess that it probably would not be in rough skins such as some European ornithologists appear still content with.1911 February 24, Outram Bangs, “Two New Birds from the Island of Molokai”, in Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, volume XXIV, page 29
  3. A type of red dye worn in the parting of the hair by married Hindu women.
    Synonyms:
    sindoor
  4. The red skin of the lips or its border with the skin of the face.
  5. (obsolete) The kermes or cochineal insect.
  6. (obsolete) The cochineal dye made from this insect.

Adjective

vermilion (comparative more vermilion, superlative most vermilion)

  1. Having a brilliant red colour.
  2. Having the color of the vermilion dye.

Verb

vermilion (third-person singular simple present vermilions, present participle vermilioning, simple past and past participle vermilioned)

  1. (transitive) To color or paint vermilion.
    • Coraly has few of thoſe charms that conſtitute perſonal excellence—her cheek is pallid—her eye no brilliant; but when the latter beams benevolence, or ſparkles with mirth—when the former is ſuffuſed with the captivating bluſh of modeſty, or vermilioned with the glow of the tender paſſion, there are...1774 March, “Coraly: A Portrait”, in The Hibernian Magazine, or, Compendium of Entertaining Knowledge, page 160

vermilion meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

vermilion in Hindi

dye
सिंदूर sindūr
pigment
सिंदूर sindūr
colour
सिंदूरिया रंग sindūriyā raṅg, सिंदूरी sindūrī, क़िरमिज़ qirmiz
having a brilliant red colour
क़िरमिज़ी qirmizī, सिंदूरी sindūrī

vermilion in Tamil

சாதிலிங்கம்

vermilion in Urdu

vermilion
قرمز qirmiz

vermilion in Bengali

vermilion
মঙ্গল্য moṅgollo
vermilion, sindoor
সিন্দূর śindur, সিঁদুর śĩdur
More languagesFewer languages
vermilion in Telugu
ఇంగిలీకము iṅgilīkamu
vermilion in Malayalam
കടുത്ത ചുവപ്പുനിറം, സിന്ദൂരം
vermilion in Kannada
ಸಿಂಧುರ sindhura
vermilion in Punjabi
ਸੰਧੂਰ sandhūr
vermilion in Gujarati
સિંદૂર sindūr
vermilion in Sanskrit
दरद darada
vermilion in Persian
شنگرف šangarf

Synonyms of vermilion

Forms of vermilion

Noun
pluralvermilions
alternative formvermillion
Adjective
comparativemore vermilion
superlativemost vermilion
Verb
third-person singular presentvermilions
present participlevermilioning
past participlevermilioned
pastvermilioned

Origin of vermilion

From Middle English vermelioun, vermyloun, vermylon, vermilun, from Old French vermeillon (“vermilion”), from vermeil, from Latin vermiculus (“little worm”), from vermis (“worm”), ultimately in reference to Kermes vermilio, a type of scale insect used to make a crimson dye. Displaced native Old English bōcrēad.

Words formed from vermilion

Phrases with vermilion

Words that rhyme with vermilion

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about vermilion

What does vermilion mean?
Vermilion means a vivid red synthetic pigment made of mercury sulfide, cinnabar.
What is vermilion in Hindi?
Vermilion in Hindi is सिंदूर (sindūr), सिंदूरी (sindūrī), सिंदूरिया रंग (sindūriyā raṅg). See Vermilion meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is vermilion?
Vermilion can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
How do you pronounce vermilion?
Vermilion is pronounced /vəˈmɪl.jən/ (UK).
What is the plural of vermilion?
The plural of vermilion is vermilions.

Words near vermilion in the dictionary

  1. vermigrade
  2. vermil
  3. vermile
  4. vermileonid
  5. vermileonids
  6. vermilion
  7. vermilion border
  8. vermilion borders
  9. Vermilion County
  10. vermilion flycatcher
  11. vermilion flycatchers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: vermilion (page history and authors); vermilion (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); قرمز (Urdu) (page history and authors); মঙ্গল্য (Bengali) (page history and authors); ఇంగిలీకము (Telugu) (page history and authors); vermilion (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ಸಿಂಧುರ (Kannada) (page history and authors); ਸੰਧੂਰ (Punjabi) (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.

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

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