A bright red or scarlet color, or the pigment that produces this color.
From Old French 'vermillon,' derived from Latin 'vermiculus' (little worm), because the pigment was originally made from dried insects called kermes. The bright red color resembled crushed worms.
Vermilion's stunning red color originally came from crushing tiny insects—the word literally means 'little worm'—so many Renaissance paintings got their brilliant reds from bug juice before synthetic pigments existed!
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