vermeil

English

Alternative forms

• vermile

Etymology

From Middle English vermayle, from Old French vermeil (“vermilion”), 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. Doublet of vermicule.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɜː.meɪl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈvɝ.mɪl/, /ˈvɝ.meɪl/

Adjective

vermeil (comparative more vermeil, superlative most vermeil)

1. (poetic, now rare) Bright scarlet, vermilion.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     And in her cheekes the vermeill red did shew / Like roses in a bed of lillies shed […].

   • 1818, John Keats, Endymion‎^[1], Book I, lines 49-51:

     Many and many a verse I hope to write,
     Before the daisies, vermeil rimm’d and white,
     Hide in deep herbage;

2. (poetic, now rare) Specifically of faces, lips etc.: red, ruddy, healthy-looking.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 36, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     his carriage; demeanor, and venerable behaviour, in a face so young, vermeill, and heart enflaming […].

   • 1820, Charles Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer:

     a lip as vermeil as her own. (IV, xxx)

Noun

French vermeil work

vermeil (plural vermeils)

1. (poetic) Vermilion; bright red.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     The mortall steele stayed not till it was seene / To gore her side; yet was the wound not deepe, / But lightly rased her soft silken skin, / That drops of purple blood thereout did weepe, / Which did her lilly smock with staines of vermeil steep.

2. Silver gilt or gilt bronze.
3. A liquid composition applied to a gilded surface to give luster to the gold.

Related terms

• vermillion

Anagrams

• vermile

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French vermeil, from Old French vermeil, syncopated form of Latin vermiculus (“little worm”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɛʁ.mɛj/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

vermeil (feminine vermeille, masculine plural vermeils, feminine plural vermeilles)

1. bright red; vermilion
2. (of mouth, lips, etc.) ruby; cherry
3. rosy

Noun

vermeil m (plural vermeils)

1. vermeil (gold-plated silver with a reddish hue)

Further reading

• “vermeil”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French vermeil.

Adjective

vermeil m (feminine singular vermeille, masculine plural vermeils, feminine plural vermeilles)

1. vermillion

Descendants

• French: vermeil

References

• vermeil on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)

Old French

Alternative forms

• vermail, vermoil

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *vermiclus, syncopated form of Latin vermiculus (“little worm”).

Adjective

vermeil m (oblique and nominative feminine singular vermeile)

1. vermillion

Declension

	Case	masculine	feminine	neuter
singular	subject	vermaus	vermeille	vermeil
	oblique	vermeil			vermeille	vermeil
plural	subject	vermeil	vermeilles		vermeil
	oblique	vermaus			vermeilles	vermeil

Descendants

• Middle French: vermeil
  • French: vermeil
• → Middle English: vermayle
  • English: vermeil