11 July 2018
vermilion or vermillion
[ver-mil-yuh n]
noun
1. a brilliant scarlet red.
2. a bright-red, water-insoluble pigment consisting of mercuric sulfide, once obtained from cinnabar, now usually produced by the reaction of mercury and sulfur.
adjective
3. of the color vermilion.
verb (used with object)
4. to color with or as if with vermilion.
Origin of vermilion
Middle English, Old French
1250-1300; Middle English vermilioun, vermillon < Anglo-French, Old French verm(e)illon, equivalent to vermeil vermeil + -on noun suffix
Examples from the Web for vermilion
Historical Examples
Her mouth, the vermilion of her lips, and her ivory teeth were all perfect.
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
Her lips, like bits of vermilion paper, stared as from an idol’s face.
Erik Dorn
Ben Hecht
They will work, as I have seen, with wax hardened with vermilion or softened with lard.
On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
Today’s quote
In times of trouble, the wise build bridges and the foolish build walls.
– Nigerian proverb (paraphrased in the movie ‘Black Panther’)
On this day
11 July 1833 – Yagan, indigenous Australian warrior of the Noongar people, is killed by a young settler named William Keates. From around 1831, white settlers had taken over so much of the land that the Noongar were denied access to traditional hunting grounds and rivers. In need of food, Yagan led a series of raids on crops and cattle being farmed by the settlers. In the process a number of white settlers were killed. Yagan was declared an outlaw and eventually arrested with other Noongar men. Yagan was sentenced to death but was saved by a settler, Robert Lyon, who argued that Yagan was defending his land from invasion and should therefore be treated as a prisoner of war. Yagan and other Noongar men were exiled to Carnac Island, from which they eventually escaped. More raids to obtain supplies ensued and more settlers were killed. A group of Noongar, including Yagan, were on their way to collect flour rations, when they came across two brothers, William and James Keates who convinced Yagan to stay with them to avoid arrest. William shot Yagan dead and the brothers fled. They were attacked later that day by the Noongar and William was speared to death. James escaped and claimed the reward on Yagan, however, his actions were widely criticised, with Yagan’s killing described by the Perth Gazette as ‘a wild and treacherous act’.
11 July 1977 – Nine years after his assassination, Martin Luther King is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by United States President Jimmy Carter.
11 July 1979 – US space station, Skylab, ignites on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, causing debris to rain down on Australia. The space station was unoccupied at the time.