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Webster 1913 Edition
Madder
Mad′der
(măd′dẽr)
, Noun.
[OE.
mader
, AS. maedere
; akin to Icel. maðra
.] (Bot.)
A plant of the genus
Rubia
(Rubia tinctorum
). The root is much used in dyeing red, and formerly was used in medicine. It is cultivated in France and Holland. See Rubiaceous
. ☞ Madder is sometimes used in forming pigments, as lakes, etc., which receive their names from their colors, such as
madder yellow
. Field madder
, an annual European weed (
– Sherardia arvensis
) resembling madder. Indian madder
, the East Indian
– Rubia cordifolia
, used in the East for dyeing; – called also munjeet
. Wild madder
, Rubia peregrina
of Europe; also the Galium Mollugo
, a kind of bedstraw.Webster 1828 Edition
Madder
MAD'DER
,Noun.
Definition 2024
madder
madder
English
madder (Rubia tinctorum)
Noun
madder (plural madders)
- A herbaceous plant, Rubia tinctorum, native to Asia, cultivated for a red-purple dye obtained from the root.
- The root of the plant, used as a medicine or a dye.
- A dye made from the plant.
- A deep reddish purple colour, like that of the dye.
-
madder colour:
- 1946, Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan:
- Her big head has coloured to a dim and dreadful madder.
-
Synonyms
- (Rubia tinctorum): common madder, dyer's madder
Derived terms
- field madder
- Indian madder
- madder yellow
- rose madder
- wild madder
Translations
plant
root
dye
|
colour
|
Adjective
madder (not comparable)
- Of a deep reddish purple colour, like that of the dye.
Translations
colour
Related terms
See also
Etymology 2
Inflected forms.
Adjective
madder
Etymology 3
From mead
Noun
madder (plural madders)
- Obsolete form of mether.
- c.1720 Jonathan Swift (translation from the Irish) "O'Rourke's Feast":
- Usequebaugh to our feast - In pails was brought up,
- A hundred at least, - And the madder our cup,
- O there is the sport! […]
- c.1720 Jonathan Swift (translation from the Irish) "O'Rourke's Feast":
References
- Tenison, Thomas Joseph (1860) "On Methers and Other Ancient Drinking Vessels" Journal of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society Vol.3NS No.1 p.54