red

pronunciation

How to pronounce red in British English: UK [red] word uk audio image

How to pronounce red in American English: US [red] word us audio image

Noun:

the quality or state of the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
emotionally charged terms used to refer to extreme radicals or revolutionaries
the amount by which the cost of a business exceeds its revenue
Adjective:

having any of numerous bright or strong colors reminiscent of the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies
characterized by violence or bloodshed
(especially of the face) reddened or suffused with or as if with blood from emotion or exertion
red with or characterized by blood

Word Origin

red: red: [OE] Red is an ancient colour-term, whose history can be traced back to prehistoric Indo- European *reudh-. This also produced Greek eruthrós ‘red’ (source of English erythrocyte ‘red blood cell’ [19]) and a whole range of Latin ‘red’-words, including ruber (source of English rubicund and ruby), rubeus (source of English rouge [15]), russus (source of English rissole and russet), and rūfus (source of English rufous [18]).Amongst other English words from the same Indo-European source are robust, ruby, ruddy [OE], and rust. The immediate Germanic precursor of red was *rauthaz, which also produced German rot, Dutch rood, Swedish röd, and Danish rød.=> corroborate, erythrocyte, rissole, robust, rouge, ruby, ruddy, russet, rust

red (adj.1): Old English read "red," from Proto-Germanic *raudaz (cognates: Old Norse rauðr, Danish rød, Old Saxon rod, Old Frisian rad, Middle Dutch root, Dutch rood, German rot, Gothic rauþs). As a noun from mid-13c. The Germanic words are from PIE root *reudh- "red, ruddy" (cognates: Latin ruber, also dialectal rufus "light red," mostly of hair; Greek erythros; Sanskrit rudhira-; Avestan raoidita-; Old Church Slavonic rudru, Polish rumiany, Russian rumjanyj "flushed, red," of complexions, etc.; Lithuanian raudas; Old Irish ruad, Welsh rhudd, Breton ruz "red"). The only color for which a definite common PIE root word has been found. The initial -e- in the Greek word is because Greek tends to avoid beginning words with -r-. Along with dead, bread (n.), lead (n.1), the vowel shortened in Middle English. The surname Read/Reid retains the original Old English long vowel pronunciation and is the corresponding surname to Brown-, Black, White. The color designation of Native Americans in English from 1580s. The color as characteristic of "British possessions" on a map is attested from 1885. Red-white-and-blue in reference to American patriotism, from the colors of the flag, is from 1840; in a British context, in reference to the Union flag, 1852. The red flag was used as a symbol of defiance in battle on land or sea from c. 1600. To see red "get angry" is an American English expression first recorded 1898. Red rover, the children's game, attested from 1891. Red light as a sign to stop is from 1849, long before traffic signals. As the sign of a brothel, it is attested from 1899. As a children's game (in reference to the traffic light meaning) it is recorded from 1953. Red-letter day (late 14c.) was originally a saint's day, marked on church calendars in red letters. Red ball signifying "express" in railroad jargon is 1904, originally (1899) a system of moving and tracking freight cars. Red dog, type of U.S. football pass rush, is recorded from 1959. Red meat is from 1808. Red shift in spectography is first recorded 1923. Red carpet "sumptuous welcome" is from 1934, but the custom for dignitaries is described as far back as Aeschylus ("Agamemnon"); it also was the name of a type of English moth.

red (adj.2): "Bolshevik," 1917, from red (adj.1), the color they adopted for themselves. Association in Europe of red with revolutionary politics (on notion of blood and violence) is from at least 1297, but got a boost 1793 with adoption of the red Phrygian cap (French bonnet rouge) as symbol of the French Revolution. First specific political reference in English was 1848 (adj.), in news reports of the Second French Republic (a.k.a. Red Republic). Red China is from 1934. The noun meaning "radical, communist" is from 1851.