bugbear

Pronounced: BUG-bear, noun

Notes: I knew one of the definitions of this word; do you know it?

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Yesterday’s word

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

• vermillion color (bright orange-red)
• metal, such a silver, bronze, or copper that has been guilded

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1400s

Background / Comments

I think I was wrong in most of the ways about this word; first of all, I didn’t have the pronunciation correct; I thought it was “ver-MEAL”. Secondly, I knew it was a color, but for some reason, I think of blue or green (possibly from thinking of ‘verde’). Red dye used to be made from insects of the genus Kermes. Our word comes from the Latin word vermiculus (little worm, kermes), which is the diminutive form of vermis (worm).