Yahoo Web Search

Search results

1. Dictionary

   cochineal

   /ˌkɒtʃɪˈniːl/

   noun

   • 1. a scarlet dye used for colouring food, made from the crushed dried bodies of a female scale insect.
   • ▪ a dye similar to cochineal made from the oak kermes insect.
   • 2. the scale insect that is used for cochineal, native to Mexico and formerly cultivated on cacti.

   Word Origin late 16th century: from French cochenille or Spanish cochinilla, from Latin coccinus ‘scarlet’, from Greek kokkos ‘berry’ (the insect bodies were mistaken for grains or berries). Compare with coccus, kermes.

   Scrabble Points: 16

   • C

     3

   • O

     1

   • C

     3

   • H

     4

   • I

     1

   • N

     1

   • E

     1

   • A

     1

   • L

     1

   Powered by Oxford Dictionaries

   More definitions, origin and scrabble points