reddishadj.n.
/ˈrɛdɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈrɛdɪʃ/ 1. Somewhat red, red-tinted. Also (occasionally) as n.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [adjective] > reddish
reddisha1398
rubicund?a1425
ruddish1563
ruddyish1651
rubid1654
rutilous1654
flushy1706
rubescent1731
rufescent1802
rubedinous1845
rufulous1883
pyrrhous1890
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 47v Þe tonges of addres ben blak oþir bloo oþir redissch [L. subrufe].
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 59v Among þese coloures some tokeneþ..parfite digestioun, as citrine & redisch [L. rufus].
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 124 One þe morne suple with wyne which is als ofte to be done vnto þai [sc. the hairs] be rufe or redish [?c1425 Paris rudy or golden; L. ruffi].
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 51v (MED) His face is reed or redisch; þe white of hise yȝen ben redisch and blody.
1545 T. Raynald in tr. E. Roesslin Byrth of Mankynde i. sig. F.ivv The lytel small vaynes which ye se reddisshe in a mans eye.
1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. iv. v. f. 21v/1 Then is the swellinge reddishe of coloure, or purple coloured.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxii. xx. 125 The root yeeldeth no oleous substance, but a reddish juice.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 192 They delight much to parget their bodies with a reddish earth.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 281. ¶5 This Pericardium..contains in it a thin reddish Liquor.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 339 The two former are of a brown dusky colour, but this of a beautiful reddish.
1809 G. Shaw Zool. Lect. I. ii. 37 The species which makes the nearest approach to the human figure, is the chesnut-coloured or reddish Oran Otan.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita I. xii. 407 A reddish and rather vacant face.
1917 H. W. Conn Bacteria, Yeasts, & Molds in Home (rev. ed.) i. 8 Colorless plants..does not mean that they are absolutely without color, for they may be bluish, reddish, gray, or white, or, indeed, they may show other colors.
2007 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 10 June i. 18/3 There's the Alphonso, a small, yellow mango that is among the nation's sweetest, and the Khattu, with its reddish skin.
2. In the names of animals and plants: red-tinted. See also Compounds 3. [In quots. 1777 and 1869 translating the scientific Latin epithets rubescens and rufescens.]
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1777 J. Lightfoot Flora Scotica II. 846 [Lichen rufescens], Reddish Ground Liverwort. Anglis.
1869 J. T. B. Syme Sowerby's Eng. Bot. (ed. 3) IX. 31 Polygonum Rufescens,..Reddish Pondweed.
1907 R. South Moths Brit. Isles I. 279 The Reddish Light Arches..occurs in beech woods.
1970 Auk 87 728 The Reddish Hermit (Phaethornis ruber), a sedentary Amazonian hummingbird..lives all year in second growth vegetation.
1992 Independent 24 Aug. 5/4 In neighbouring cages are caterpillars of two other rarities the Reddish Buff moth and the Barberry Carpet moth.
Compounds
C1. Modifying adjectives and nouns of colour, as reddish-blue, reddish-brown, reddish-purple, reddish-violet, reddish-yellow, etc.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [noun] > reddish yellow
saffrona1382
saffron coloura1398
saffron yellowa1398
reddish-yellow1530
orange-yellow1825
madder yellow1836
the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [noun] > reddish brown
russet1422
red-brown?a1450
reddish-brown1530
sorrel1530
mordoré1791
alezan1820
mahogany1822
henna1911
teak1934
the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [adjective] > reddish brown
russet1428
reddish-brown1530
sorrel1534
berry-brown1575
sored1587
russetish1600
Chelidonian1601
weaselled-coloured1607
deer-coloured1611
spadiceous1646
russeted1654
testaceous1688
russety1697
mahoganya1744
red-brown1786
reddy-brown1845
fusco-testaceous1847
mahogany-brown1881
persimmon1897
1530 Bible (Tyndale) Lev. xii. 9 Yf the rysynge of the sore be reddyshwhite in his baulde heade or foreheade..then he is a leper.
1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. li. 93 Many times there are of seuerall colours vpon one tree, some being a light green, others Yelow, & some a reddish green.
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole l. 518 The scales..are eyther of a reddish browne, whitish, or greenish colour.
1659 J. Howell Particular Vocab. §ii, in Lex. Tetraglotton (1660) A reddish bay [horse]; Rabicàno.
1686 W. King in Philos. Trans. 1685 (Royal Soc.) 15 953 The reddish black colour of the turf.
a1728 J. Woodward Attempt Nat. Hist. Fossils Eng. (1729) 226 Internally the Colour is a reddish brown.
1739 C. Labelye Short Acct. Piers Westm. Bridge 53 A dirty reddish yellow.
1781 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 5744/1 Terminated by a long spike of reddish-purple flowers.
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xiv. 115 Of a dull reddish-white colour.
1856 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1855: Agric. 273 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (34th Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 12) VI The Red-striped [sugar] cane,..and the Violet or Reddish-violet, which is only a variation from the former,..will generally prosper..[in] the Southern States.
1879 O. N. Rood Mod. Chromatics xi. 168 The resultant tint would always have been a reddish-grey.
1922 J. J. Sudborough Bernthsen's Text-bk. Org. Chem. (new ed.) iv. 124 It is spontaneously combustible, and burns with a brilliant reddish-blue flame.
1966 C. Siragusa & R. Wiedrich Trail of Poppy i. 28 Low rock formations began to rise ahead from the desert floor, reddish pink in the early sunlight.
1999 C. Mendelson Home Comforts xlv. 557/2 Bronze is a reddish-gold alloy of copper and tin.
C2. Parasynthetic, as reddish-bellied, reddish-coloured, reddish-haired, reddish-headed, etc.; also similative, as reddish-looking.
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1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. vii. i. f. 34/1 The..matter goode & laudable, whyte, or reddishe coloured, and without stincke.
1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie ii. 157 The persons..are white breasted, reddish-hair'd.
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 369 Our smaller reddish-headed Duck.
1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 480 The gray-breasted and reddish-bellied Charadrius.
1753 F. Lallier Instr. Necessary for using Anti-venereal Bougie 14 It will be necessary..to take one of the reddish coloured bougies.
1838 G. P. R. James Robber III. v. 124 The Rector was a quick, sharp-nosed, reddish-faced gentleman.
1876 Clin. Soc. Trans. 9 76 Discharging about 8 ozs. of offensive reddish-looking fluid.
1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill vii. 244 The margin of a boggy area reddish-hued with sundew.
1993 M. J. Plotkin Tales Shaman's Apprentice vi. 171 Reddish-feathered savanna hawks.
1996 Chiltern Seeds Catal. 69 Tartar Bread Plant. Large, fleshy, reddish-veined..leaves and large panicles of white flowers.
C3.
reddish egret n. a heron, Egretta rufescens, occurring in both a dark phase (blue-grey with a reddish-brown head and neck) and a white phase, found in southern North America.
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1785 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. II. ii. 447 Reddish Egret..Inhabits Louisiana.
1835 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. III. 411 The Reddish Egret is a constant resident on the Florida Keys.
1977 National Geographic May 684/2 Many species, such as the reddish egret..almost vanished around the turn of the century when their plumes were prized as adornments for ladies' hats.
2005 T. Wood et al. Birds of N. Amer. 54 Reddish Egrets shuffle their feet in shallow water to stir up prey.
reddish-grey bat n. now rare Natterer's bat, Myotis nattereri.
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the world > animals > mammals > order Chiroptera or bat > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous type of
blude-black1647
music-stamper1713
red bat1775
Geoffroy's bat1829
reddish-grey bat1837
notch-eared bat1840
pachyote1865
notched-eared bat1871
valve-tailed bat1871
Negro-bat1885
1837 T. Bell Hist. Brit. Quadrupeds 42 Vespertilio Nattereri. This species, to which I have applied the English name of Reddish-grey Bat from its prevailing colour, was first described by Kuhl, and named by him after..Dr. Natterer.
1877 Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 305 The Reddish-grey Bat, or Natterer's Bat (Vespertilio Nattereri), is an undoubted native of this country.
1903 H. Johnston Brit. Mammals v. 97 The distribution of the reddish-grey bat in England is fairly common over the southern and midland counties.
Derivatives
ˈreddishly adv.
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1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Russet, reddishly brown.
1946 R. Capell Simiomata ii. 47 He is donnish, tall and reddishly fair.
2005 Philippine Daily Inquirer (Nexis) 11 Apr. 1 Two round objects reddishly glow a few inches away.
ˈreddishness n.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [noun] > reddishness
reddishness1571
rufescence1843
1571 T. Hill Contempl. Mankinde xii. f. 12v The colour is for the more part chaunged, through the lyuer: vnto a reddishnesse and whytenesse.
1663 R. Boyle Exper. & Consid. Colours ii. Exp. xiii Whether or no this White mixture..would not let go its Arsenick,..and return to the Reddishness of Copper.
1757 E. M. da Costa Nat. Hist. Fossils 25 This is a pure fine bole, of a dull dusky yellow colour, with some faint blush of reddishness in it.
1854 Illustr. Mag. Art 3 386/2 The other two productions of this artist..have a reddishness of tone which gives them an unpleasant effect.
1881 C. A. Young Sun 306 We should doubtless believe this reddishness the natural color of the glowing, naked carbons.
1926 Jrnl. Mammalogy 7 191 This reddishness was so very pronounced and so unusual that I made a special note of it.
1998 T. Ali Bk. of Saladin (1999) xxvii. 251 The reddishness of his hair was emphasised by the whiteness of his skin.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.a1398