cochineal
Plural: cochineals
Noun
- a red dyestuff consisting of dried bodies of female cochineal insects
- Mexican red scale insect that feeds on cacti; the source of a red dye
- A scale insect of the species Dactylopius coccus, native to the tropical and subtropical Americas, which lives on prickly pear cacti (genus Opuntia).
- A vivid red dye made from the dried bodies of cochineal insects.
- The vivid red colour of this dye.
Adj
- Possessing a vivid red colour, as or as if produced from dyeing with cochineal dye (noun sense 2).
Origin / Etymology
The noun is borrowed from Middle French cochenille (modern French cochenille), from Italian cocciniglia or Spanish cochinilla; further etymology uncertain, possibly from Latin coccineus, coccinus (“scarlet-dyed; scarlet in colour”) (whence Italian coccineo (“scarlet in colour”)) + Italian -iglia (suffix forming collective nouns), Spanish -illa (“diminutive suffix”). Coccinus is derived from Ancient Greek κόκκῐνος (kókkĭnos, “scarlet; (figurative) blushing”, adjective), from κόκκος (kókkos, “kermes oak (Quercus coccifera); insect of the genus Kermes living on the oak; scarlet dye made from crushed kermes insects”) (possibly from Pre-Greek) + -ῐνος (-ĭnos, suffix forming adjectives).
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, cochineal is not derived from Spanish cochinilla (“pill bug, especially the common pill bug (Armadillidium vulgare)”), a diminutive of cochina (“female pig, sow”) (from the animal’s shape), which coincidentally has the same spelling as cochinilla (“cochineal”).
The adjective is derived from the noun.
Synonyms
cochineal insect, Dactylopius coccus, E120
Scrabble Score: 16
cochineal is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordcochineal is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
cochineal is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary