Meanings
plural cinnabars
- countableuncountableA deep red mineral, mercuric sulfide, HgS; the principal ore of mercury; such ore used as the pigment vermilion.
Synonyms: æthiops mineral
- countableuncountableA bright red colour tinted with orange.
- countableA species of erebid moth, Tyria jacobaeae, having red patches on its predominantly black wings.
There are a few day-flying exceptions such as hummingbird hawk-moths, silver Ys, cinnabars, scarlet tigers and burnets but, in general, knowledge of moths lags behind that of butterflies.
2015, Norman Maclean, A Less Green and Pleasant Land, page 223Synonyms: cinnabar moth
comparative more cinnabar · superlative most cinnabar
- Of a bright red colour tinted with orange.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA deep red mineral, mercuric sulfide, HgS; the principal ore of mercury; such ore used as the pigment vermilion.
nounA species of erebid moth, Tyria jacobaeae, having red patches on its predominantly black wings.
nounSynonym of dragon's blood (“type of resin”).
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveof a vivid red to reddish-orange color
nounlarge red-and-black European moth; larvae feed on leaves of ragwort; introduced into United States to control ragwort
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekκιννάβαρι
- Latincinnabaris
- Old Frenchcinabre
- Middle Englishcynabare
- Englishcinnabar
First attested in the mid-15th century. From Middle English cynabare, from Old French cinabre, from Latin cinnabaris, from Ancient Greek κιννάβαρι (kinnábari), of unknown origin.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek τιγγάβαρι
- τιγγάβαρι (tingábari)mineral
Arabic زِنْجَفْر
- زِنْجَفْر (zinjafr)mineral
Bulgarian киновар, цинобър
- киновар (kinovar)mineral
- цинобър (cinobăr)color
Catalan cinabri
- cinabrimineral
Chinese Mandarin 朱砂, 丹砂
- 朱砂 (zhūshā)mineral
- 丹砂 (dānshā)mineral
- 丹 (dān)of a bright red colour
Dutch vermiljoen, cinnaber
- vermiljoenmineral
- cinnabermineral
- cinnabercolor
Esperanto cinabro
- cinabromineral
Estonian kinaver
- kinavermineral
Finnish sinooperi, sinooperinpunainen
- sinooperimineral
- sinooperinpunainencolor
- sinooperinpunainenof a bright red colour
French cinabre
- cinabremineral
German Zinnober, Zinnober
- Zinnobermineral
- Zinnobercolor
Hebrew צינובר
- צינובר (tsínober)mineral
Hindi ईंगुर, हिंगुल
- ईंगुर (īṅgur)mineral
- हिंगुल (hiṅgul)mineral
Indonesian sinabar
- sinabarmineral
Irish cionnabar, leamhan flanndearg
- cionnabarmineral
- leamhan flanndeargmoth
- cionnabarcolor
Italian cinabro
- cinabromineral
Japanese 辰砂, 辰沙
- 辰砂 (shinsha)mineral
- 辰沙 (shinsha)mineral
- 朱砂 (susa)mineral
- 丹砂 (tansa)mineral
- 丹朱 (tanshu)mineral
- 丹 (tan)mineral
- 朱 (shu)mineral
- 丹color
- 丹色 (niiro)color
- 朱color
- 朱色color
Korean 주사, 단사
- 주사 (jusa)mineral
- 단사 (dansa)mineral
Latin anthrax
- anthraxmineral
Malay batu kawi
- batu kawimineral
Norwegian sinober, sinober
- sinobermineral
- sinobercolor
Persian شنگرف, شنگرفی
- شنگرف (šangarf)mineral
- شنگرفی (šangarfi)color
Polish cynober, proporzyca marzymłódka
- cynobermineral
- proporzyca marzymłódkamoth
- marzymłódka proporzecmoth
- cynobercolor
- cynobrowyof a bright red colour
Portuguese cinabre
- cinabremineral
Romanian cinabru, chinovar
- cinabrumineral
- chinovarmineral
- vermillonmineral
- cinabrucolor
Russian ки́новарь, ки́новарь
- ки́новарь (kínovarʹ)mineral
- ки́новарь (kínovarʹ)color
- кита́йский кра́сный (kitájskij krásnyj)color
Slovak rumelka, cinabarit
- rumelkamineral
- cinabaritmineral
Spanish cinabrio
- cinabriomineral
Swedish cinnober
- cinnobermineral
Thai ชาด
- ชาด (châat)mineral
Turkish zincifre, sülüğen
- zincifremineral
- sülüğenmineral
Ukrainian кі́нова́р, цино́бра
- кі́нова́р (kínovár)mineral
- цино́бра (cynóbra)mineral
Vietnamese chu sa
- chu samineral
Cite this entry
cinnabar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cinnabar
“cinnabar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cinnabar. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cinnabar,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cinnabar.
Source: cinnabar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.