madder

English

madder (Rubia tinctorum)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmædə(ɹ)/, [ˈmadə(ɹ)]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmædɚ/, [ˈmæɾɚ]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ædə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

From Middle English mader, madere, mædere, from Old English mædere, mæddre, mædre, from Proto-Germanic *madarǭ (compare Swedish madra, Old Norse / Icelandic maðra), from Proto-Indo-European *modʰro-, cognate with Proto-Slavic *modrъ (“blue”), and compare Irish madar (“madder”), Latvian madara (“madder”).

Noun

madder (countable and uncountable, plural madders)

1. A herbaceous plant, Rubia tinctorum, native to Asia, cultivated for a red-purple dye (alizarin) obtained from the root.
2. The root of the plant, used as a medicine or a dye.
3. A dye made from the plant.
   • 1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros‎^[1], London: Jonathan Cape, page 19:

     Their armour was stained with madder, in such wise that they seemed bathed in blood.

4. A deep reddish colour, like that of the dye.

   madder:  

   • 1946, Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan:

     Her big head has coloured to a dim and dreadful madder.

Synonyms

• (Rubia tinctorum): common madder, dyer's madder

Derived terms

• blue field madder (Sherardia arvensis)
• brown madder
• capucine madder
• common madder (Rubia cordifolia, Rubia tinctorum)
• crimson madder
• dyer's madder (Rubia tinctorum)
• field madder (Sherardia arvensis)
• flowers of madder
• Indian madder (Rubia cordifolia, Oldenlandia umbellata)
• madder crimson
• madder lake
• madder orange
• madder rose
• madder scarlet
• maddery
• madder yellow
• orange madder
• pink madder
• Rembrandt's madder
• rose madder
• Rubens' madder
• scarlet madder
• white madder (Galium mollugo)
• wild madder (Rubia peregrina)

 

Translations

plant

• Afar: please add this translation if you can
• Akkadian: 𒁍𒉿𒌈 (pu-wa-tum /⁠puwatu⁠/)
• Albanian: bimë ngjyruese f, rrolbë (sq) f, rrojbë f
• Amharic: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: فُوَّة صَبْغِيَّة f (fuwwa(t) ṣabḡiyya), فُوَّة f (fuwwa)
• Aramaic:

  Jewish: פּוּתָא f (pūṯā), פּוּאֲתָא f (pūʾăṯā)

  Syriac: ܦܽܘܬܳܐ f (pūṯā)

• Armenian: տորոն (hy) (toron)
• Azerbaijani: boyaqotu
• Belarusian: марэ́на f (maréna), мару́на f (marúna)
• Breton: gwrizienn-ruz f
• Bulgarian: брош m (broš)
• Catalan: roja (ca) f
• Chinese: 茜草 (zh) (qiàncǎo)
• Chuvash: please add this translation if you can
• Czech: mořena f
• Danish: krap
• Dutch: meekrap (nl) f
• Estonian: punavärvik, krapp
• Finnish: värimatara (fi), aitovärimatara, värikrappi (fi)
• French: garance (fr) f
• Galician: please add this translation if you can
• Georgian: ენდრო (ka) (endro)
• German: Färberkrapp m, Färberröte f, Krapp (de) m
• Greek: ριζάρι (el) (rizári), ερυθρόδανο n (erythródano)
• Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
• Harari: please add this translation if you can
• Hebrew: פּוּאָה (he) f (pūʾā)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hittite: 𒊺𒉿𒁕 (ŠE.BE.DA /⁠puwattis⁠/) (hapax, disputed meaning)
• Hungarian: festő buzér (hu)
• Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: madar m
• Italian: robbia (it) f, garanza f
• Japanese: 茜 (ja) (アカネ, akane)
• Kannada: please add this translation if you can
• Kazakh: please add this translation if you can
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ڕۆنیاس (ronyas)

  Northern Kurdish: soring f

• Kyrgyz: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: rubia f
• Latvian: madara f
• Macedonian: броќ m (broḱ)
• Malayalam: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: krapp

  Old Norse: maðra f

• Persian: روناس (fa) (ronâs)
• Polish: marzana (pl) f
• Portuguese: ruiva-dos-tintureiros f, ruiva f, granza f, garança f
• Romanian: roibă (ro) f, garanță (ro) f
• Russian: маре́на (ru) f (maréna)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бро̏ћ m

  Roman: brȍć m

• Slovak: marena f
• Slovene: brošč m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: please add this translation if you can

  Upper Sorbian: čerwjenka f

• Spanish: rubia roja f
• Swedish: krappar
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Tatar: please add this translation if you can
• Telugu: please add this translation if you can
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Tigre: please add this translation if you can
• Tigrinya: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: kızılkök (tr)
• Ugaritic: 𐎔𐎆𐎚 f (pwt)
• Ukrainian: маре́на f (maréna)
• Uzbek: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: cochwraidd m, gwreiddrudd f

root

• Finnish: värimataran juuri
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Krappwurzel f
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} madar m
• Italian: robbia (it) f
• Romanian: roibă (ro) f
• Russian: маре́на (ru) f (maréna)

dye

• Akkadian: 𒁍𒉿𒌈 (pu-wa-tum /⁠puwatu⁠/)
• Armenian: տորոն (hy) (toron)
• Finnish: alitsariini, krappi (fi), alitsariinipunainen
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Krapprot n, Krappfarbstoff m, Alizarin (de) n, Alizarinrot n
• Hittite: ^{(please verify)} 𒊺𒉿𒁕 (ŠE.BE.DA /⁠puwattis⁠/)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} madar m
• Italian: alizarina f
• Japanese: 茜 (ja) (あかね, akane)
• Latin: rubia f
• Portuguese: alizarina (pt) f, garança f
• Romanian: alizarină (ro) f
• Russian: крапп (ru) m (krapp)
• Spanish: rojo de alizarina m
• Welsh: madr m

colour

• Finnish: alitsariinipunainen
• French: garance (fr) f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Krapprot n
• Indonesian: beranang (id)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} madar m
• Italian: rosso di robbia m
• Japanese: 茜色 (ja) (あかねいろ, akaneiro)
• Persian: روناسی (ronâsi)
• Romanian: roz pal n
• Spanish: rojo turco m

Adjective

madder (not comparable)

1. Of a deep reddish purple colour, like that of the dye.

Translations

colour

• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• French: garance (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: krapprot
• Indonesian: beranang (id)
• Japanese: 茜色の (あかねいろの, akaneiro no)
• Romanian: roz pal
• Russian: краповый (ru) (krapovyj)
• Spanish: rojo turco

Verb

madder (third-person singular simple present madders, present participle maddering, simple past and past participle maddered)

1. (transitive, rare) To dye with madder.

See also

• bedstraw
• bluet
• genipap
• Appendix:Colors

Etymology 2

Inflected forms.

Adjective

madder

1. comparative form of mad: more mad

Etymology 3

From Irish meadar.

Noun

madder (plural madders)

1. Obsolete form of mether.
   • c.1720 Jonathan Swift (translation from the Irish) "O'Rourke's Feast":

     Usequebaugh to our feast - In pails was brought up,

     A hundred at least, - And the madder our cup,

     O there is the sport! […]

References

• Tenison, Thomas Joseph (1860) "On Methers and Other Ancient Drinking Vessels" Journal of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society Vol.3NS No.1 p.54

Etymology 4

Verb

madder (third-person singular simple present madders, present participle maddering, simple past and past participle maddered)

1. Eye dialect spelling of matter.

Anagrams

• MedDRA, dermad, dream'd, marded

Middle English

Adjective

madder

1. comparative degree of mad