A dark crimson or deep red color, now archaic; also called cremesine.
From Middle French cramoisie or cremoisi, derived from Arabic qirmizī (relating to kermes insect dye). The term traveled through trade languages as the crimson dye from kermes insects was valuable in medieval and Renaissance Europe.
Cremosin dye came from tiny insects (kermes) that lived on oak trees—medieval people paid fortunes for fabric dyed this color, and the word traveled through Arabic, Persian, and French before reaching English!
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