sinople

S1I1N1O1P3L1E1

noun

A shade of red; sinoper.

Scrabble 9

Meanings

nounsinople (countable and uncountable, plural sinoples)

plural sinoples · alternative cinople · alternative sinoper · alternative sinopre · alternative sinoper · alternative synopre · alternative synopar · alternative synopeir · alternative synapour · alternative sinaper · alternative synaper

  1. countableobsoleteuncountableA shade of red; sinoper.
  2. countableobsoleteuncountableSinoper, a kind of red earth historically used as a pigment, originally imported to Greece from Sinope in Paphlagonia.
  3. countableuncountablechemistryFerruginous quartz of a blood-red or brownish red colour, sometimes with a tinge of yellow, used to make the pigment sinopia.
  4. countableobsoleteuncountablegovernmentVert (green).

    In heraldry, sinople (the green of blazonry) also signified love, joy, abundance.

    1903, George Field, Ellis A. Davidson, A grammar of colouring, applied to decorative painting and the arts
    2 more examples

    Espinosa (Spain and Flanders) : Argent, a tree terrassé sinople, accosted by two wolves affrontés, sable […]

    1903, Isidore Singer, Cyrus Adler, The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, page 128

    This shield argent with three lions sinople (green) has remained the coat of arms of the House of Lannoy. The young knight built a home in the woods around the seigneurie of Lys.

    1984, Lucile Kathryn Delano, Charles De Lannoy, Victor of Pavia, →ISBN

Origin

  1. Ancient GreekΣινωπίς“of Sinope”
  2. LatinSinōpis
  3. Old Frenchsinople
  4. Englishsinople

From Old French sinople, from Latin Sinōpis, from Ancient Greek Σινωπίς (Sinōpís, “of Sinope”), a town that exported a red ocher. The unexpected change to meaning "green" in heraldry occurred in French texts around 1350 for unclear reasons.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

sinople. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sinople

MLA

“sinople.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sinople. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sinople,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sinople.

Source: sinople on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.