gaslight

Pronounced: GAS-light, verb

Notes: I kind of had an idea of this word, but couldn’t give the precise definitely

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Yesterday’s word

The word ponceau, as a noun, means “a bright red color”. As an adjective, it means “of bright red color”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

I didn’t know the meaning of this word, but I have heard it before: in the 1982 film The Scarlet Pimpernel, one of the members of the Committee of Public Safety is named ‘Ponceau’. Our word comes from the Old French word pouncel (poppy); that word is a diminutive of paon (peacock), which comes from the Latin word pavo (peacock). As I understand it, the flower we now call a poppy has a vivid red color that is comparable to the bright colors of a peacock.