maroon1
/məˈruːn
/- Besides the regular reddish maroon colour, there are cream pastes to leave pink, blue, violet, magenta designs on the skin.
- At the right was a living room covered with maroon wallpaper and gold moon and stars.
- The wrap colors include a multi blue, black, white, red, turquoise, purple, jade green, navy blue, gold and a maroon type of color.
- The schools new colours are maroon, royal blue and yellow.
- They come with many different leaf colours, from maroon and cream, to copper and lime, usually with interesting variegations.
- Last Sunday was officially declared a day of no rest in Ballinrobe, as local painters and decorators coloured the town in maroon and yellow.
- Celebrations start at midday, with the firing of a maroon to signal the beginning of the party.
- A countdown led by the Wales Tourist Board chairman, a coastguard maroon and one of the loudest fireworks that the fireworks company could muster, sent the swim on its way.
Origin
Late 17th century (in the sense 'chestnut'): from French marron 'chestnut', via Italian from medieval Greek maraon. The sense relating to colour dates from the late 18th century.
The Maroons were descendants of runaway slaves who lived in the mountains and forests of Suriname and the West Indies. Their name came from French marron ‘feral’, from Spanish cimarrón ‘wild’. In the early 18th century to maroon someone became to put them down on a desolate island or coast and to leave them there, especially as a punishment. None of this has anything to do with the colour maroon, which derives from French marron ‘chestnut’. The earliest examples of maroon in English, from the late 16th century, refer to this lustrous reddish-brown nut, with the colour dating from the late 18th century. The noise of a chestnut bursting in a fire accounts for maroon as the name of a firework that makes a loud bang, often with a bright flash of light, used as a signal or warning.
Rhymes
maroon2
/məˈruːn/- She stumbled on to an island where she was marooned.
- Earlier this year he spoke of the irony of having so many women interested in him when he is marooned on the island.
- On the way to South America, the ship sinks and he is marooned on an island.
Synonyms
Origin
Early 18th century: from Maroon, originally in the form marooned 'lost in the wilds'.
Maroon3
/məˈruːn/- By 1770, five thousand to six thousand Maroons or runaway slaves were living in the jungle.
- Many of the Maroons (who are descended from escaped black African slaves) have more than one wife.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from French marron 'feral', from Spanish cimarrón 'wild', (as a noun) 'runaway slave'.