kermes

/kur-meez/US // ˈkɜr miz //UK // (ˈkɜːmɪz) //

克米斯,克尔梅斯

Definitions

n.名词 noun

1
- : a red dye formerly prepared from the dried bodies of the females of a scale insect, Kermes ilices, which lives on small, evergreen oaks of the Mediterranean region.
- : the oak itself, of the genus Quercus coccifera.

In the Middle Ages the dye from the kermes was still called “vermiculata,” of which the word vermilion is a literal translation.
The mineral red now called vermilion must have borrowed its name from the insect dye which the Greeks and Romans called “kermes.”
The Polish kermes (Coccus polonicus) was formerly used very much in Europe.
"Grain," therefore, meant a dye of such red as might be produced by the use of kermes or coccum.
After the discovery of America, cochineal having been introduced, began to supersede kermes for all brilliant red dyes.