sepia
pronunciation
How to pronounce sepia in British English:
UK [ˈsi:piə]
How to pronounce sepia in American English:
US [ˈsipiə]
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- Noun:
- a shade of brown with a tinge of red
- rich brown pigment prepared from the ink of cuttlefishes
Word Origin
- sepia
- sepia: [14] Sepia originated as a word for a cuttlefish. It comes via Latin from Greek sēpíā. In English it is now rare in that sense, except as a zoological genus name and in various technical derivatives such as sepiacean and sepioid, but a particular attribute of some types of cuttlefish has given it a much wider role: as a term for a reddish-brown pigment made from the liquid secreted by cuttlefish ink sacs. That application originated in Italy, and it was from Italian seppia, probably by way of French sépia, that English acquired it in the 19th century.
- sepia (n.)
- "rich brown pigment," 1821, from Italian seppia "cuttlefish" (borrowed with that meaning in English by 1560s), from Latin sepia "cuttlefish," from Greek sepia "cuttlefish," related to sepein "to make rotten" (see sepsis). The color was that of brown paint or ink prepared from the fluid secretions of the cuttlefish. Meaning "a sepia drawing" is recorded from 1863.