red

See also: -red, red-, Red, RED, and rěd

English

Various shades of red

A Caucasian woman with red hair.

A Uyghur girl in China who has red hair.

A glass of red wine

Pronunciation

• enPR: rĕd, IPA^(key): /ɹɛd/, [ɻʷɛˑd̥]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: read (past tense/participle)
• Rhymes: -ɛd

Etymology 1

From Middle English red, from Old English rēad, from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz (compare West Frisian read, Low German root, rod, Dutch rood, German rot, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål rød, Norwegian Nynorsk raud), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós, from the root *h₁rewdʰ- (compare Welsh rhudd, Latin ruber, rufus, Tocharian A rtär, Tocharian B ratre, Ancient Greek ἐρυθρός (eruthrós), Albanian pruth (“redhead”), Old Church Slavonic рудъ (rudŭ), Czech rudý, Lithuanian raúdas, Avestan 𐬭𐬀𐬊𐬌𐬛𐬌𐬙𐬀 (raoidita), Sanskrit रुधिर (rudhirá, “red, bloody”)).

Adjective

red (comparative redder or more red, superlative reddest or most red)

1. Having red as its color.

   The girl wore a red skirt.

   • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:

     Your colour, I warrant you, is as red as any rose.

   • 1954 July 29, J.R.R. Tolkien, “I: A Long-Expected Party”, in The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings; 1), →ISBN:

     The flowers glowed red and golden: snapdragons and sunflowers, and nasturtians trailing all over the turf walls and peeping in at the round windows.

2. (of hair) Having an orange-brown or orange-blond colour; ginger.

   Her hair had red highlights.

3. (card games, of a card) Of the hearts or diamonds suits. Compare black (“of the spades or clubs suits”)

   I got two red queens, and he got one of the black queens.

4. (often capitalized) Supportive of, related to, or dominated by a political party or movement represented by the color red:
   1. Left-wing parties and movements, chiefly socialist or communist, including the U.K. Labour party and the Social Democratic Party of Germany.
      • "Only Nixon could go to China" was the refrain of conventional wisdom during Richard Nixon’s 1972 official visit to Mao Tse-tung’s regime. Nixon’s anti-communist credentials, however dubious, provided useful camouflage as he opened diplomatic relations with Red China and made breathtaking concessions that an undisguised liberal couldn’t get away with. [1]

      the red-black grand coalition in Germany

   2. (US, 21st century) the U.S. Republican party

      a red state

      a red Congress

5. (chiefly derogatory, offensive) Amerind; relating to Amerindians or First Nations
6. (astronomy) Of the lower-frequency region of the (typically visible) part of the electromagnetic spectrum which is relevant in the specific observation.
7. (particle physics) Having a color charge of red.

Synonyms

• (color): scarlet, crimson, vermilion, ruby-red, cherry-red, cerise, cardinal-red, carmine, wine-red, claret-red, blood-red (sanguine), coral-red, cochineal-red, rose-red (rosy, damask), brick-red, maroon, rust-red (rusty), rufous-red, gules-red, rufescent.

Antonyms

• (having red as its colour): nonred, unred
• (having red as its colour charge): antired

Derived terms

• ash-red
• better dead than red
• brick-red
• go red
• Little Red Riding Hood
• Old Red Sandstone
• ragged red fibers
• red admiral
• red alert
• red alga
• red ant
• Red Army
• red as a beetroot
• redback
• red-backed shrike
• red-baiting
• red bay
• red-bellied black snake
• red biddy
• redbird
• red blood cell
• red-blooded
• Red Bluff
• Red Brigades
• redbud
• redbug
• red cabbage
• red card
• red carpet
• Redcastle
• red cedar
• red cell
• red cent
• red chamber
• Red China
• red circle rate
• red clover
• red Clydeside
• redcoat
• red coral
• red corpuscle
• Red Crescent
• Red Cross
• red currant
• redden
• red-diaper baby
• red diaper baby
• red diesel
• reddish
• red drum
• red earth
• red ensign
• Red Eye
• red-eye, redeye
• red-faced
• red fescue
• red fire
• redfish
• red flag, Red Flag
• red fox
• red giant
• red goods
• red-green coalition
• Red Guard
• red gum
• red-handed
• red hat
• redhead
• redheaded
• red heat
• red herring
• redhorse
• red-hot
• red-hot poker
• red ink
• red kangaroo
• Red Ken
• Red Lake County
• Red Lake Falls
• red lead
• red leaf
• red leg
• red-legged grasshopper ()
• Red Leicester
• red-letter day
• red light
• red-light district
• Red List
• Red Lodge
• red maple (Acer rubrum)
• red marrow
• red mass
• red meat
• red menace
• red mercury
• red mist
• red mite
• red mulberry
• red mullet
• red oak
• red ocher
• red osier
• red packet
• red panda
• red-pencil
• red pepper
• red pine
• red planet
• red-point
• Red Poll
• redpoll (Acanthis spp.)
• red puccoon (Sanguinaria canadensis)
• red rag
• red rattle
• red ribbon
• Red Rock
• redroot
• red route
• Red Scar
• red scare
• Red Sea
• red setter
• redshank
• red shank
• red shift
• red-shouldered hawk
• red siskin
• red snapper
• red snow
• red spider
• Red Spot
• red spruce
• Red Square
• red squill (Drimia maritima)
• red squirrel
• Red Star
• red state
• red steenbras
• reds under the bed
• red tape
• red tide
• red-top
• redtop
• red valerian
• Red Vienna
• red water
• Red Wharf Bay
• red whortleberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)
• Red Willow County
• Red Willow Creek
• redwing
• Red Wing
• red-winged blackbird
• red wolf
• redwood
• red worm (Lumbricina spp.)
• river red gum ()
• western red cedar ()
• wormred

 

Translations

See red/translations § Adjective.

Noun

red (countable and uncountable, plural reds)

1. (countable and uncountable) Any of a range of colours having the longest wavelengths, 670 nm, of the visible spectrum; a primary additive colour for transmitted light: the colour obtained by subtracting green and blue from white light using magenta and yellow filters; the colour of blood, ripe strawberries, etc.

   red:  

   His face turned red in embarrassment.

3. (countable) A revolutionary socialist or (most commonly) a Communist; (usually capitalized) a Bolshevik, a supporter of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War.

   Coordinate term: pinko

4. (countable, snooker) One of the 15 red balls used in snooker, distinguished from the colours.
5. (countable and uncountable) Red wine.
   • 1977 September, Billy Joel (lyrics and music), “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”, in The Stranger:

     A bottle of red, a bottle of white / It all depends upon your appetite / I'll meet you any time you want / in our Italian restaurant.

   • 2005, Jeffrey P. Landry, Temptation Mango:

     He produced a wine key from his jacket pocket and effortlessly removed the cork from the bottle of red.

   • 2008 January–February, “70 Ways to Improve Every Day of the Week”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 135:

     59 sneak in some red Smuggle a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a corkscrew into a long matinee. Red wine is rich in life-extending antioxidants, and the caper will add zest even to a bad movie.

6. (countable, informal, UK, birdwatching) A redshank.
7. (derogatory, offensive) An Amerind.
8. (slang) The drug secobarbital; a capsule of this drug.
   • 1970, “Truckin'”, in American Beauty, performed by Grateful Dead:

     What in the world ever became of sweet Jane? / She lost her sparkle, you know she isn't the same / Livin' on reds, vitamin C, and cocaine

   • 1971, Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Harper Perennial, published 2005, page 202:

     The big market, these days, is in Downers. Reds and smack—Seconal and heroin—and a hellbroth of bad domestic grass sprayed with everything from arsenic to horse tranquillizers.

9. (informal) A red light (a traffic signal)
   • 1974, Tom Waits (lyrics and music), “(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night”, in The Heart of Saturday Night‎^[2]:

     Stopping on the red, you're going on the green / Cause tonight will be like nothing you've ever seen / And you're barreling down the boulevard / You're looking for the heart of Saturday night

10. (Ireland, UK, beverages, informal) red lemonade
11. (particle physics) One of the three color charges for quarks.
12. (US, colloquial, uncountable) chili con carne (usually in the phrase "bowl of red")
    • 1982, The Rotarian (volume 140, number 1, page 39)

      Houston visited a home in an early pioneer settlement where he was offered a bowl of red. Houston eagerly took his first large spoonful. His eyes watering, he spat out his bite […]

13. (informal) The redfish or red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, a fish with reddish fins and scales.
    • 2013 November, Catch Cormier, “Sightcasting for redfish”, in Louisiana Sportsman‎^[3]:

      The species Sciaenops ocellatus certainly isn’t lacking for nicknames. […] Clear water also favors sightcasting. Against the dark background of marsh mud, a red will appear like a pumpkin — big, orange and round.

Derived terms

Terms derived from red (noun)

• antired
• blood red
• brick red
• cherry red
• Chinese red
• chrome red
• Congo red
• Indian red
• in the red
• Panama Red
• phenol red
• Pompeian red
• see red
• Turkey red
• Tuscan red
• Venetian red
• wormred

 

Translations

colour

See also

• (reds) red; blood red, brick red, burgundy, cardinal, carmine, carnation, cerise, cherry, cherry red, Chinese red, cinnabar, claret, crimson, damask, fire brick, fire engine red, flame, flamingo, fuchsia, garnet, geranium, gules, hot pink, incarnadine, Indian red, magenta, maroon, misty rose, nacarat, oxblood, pillar-box red, pink, Pompeian red, poppy, raspberry, red violet, rose, rouge, ruby, ruddy, salmon, sanguine, scarlet, shocking pink, stammel, strawberry, Turkey red, Venetian red, vermilion, vinaceous, vinous, violet red, wine ^{(Category: en:Reds)}
• primary colour

Colors/Colours in English (layout · text)
red	orange	yellow	green	blue (incl.      indigo;              cyan, teal, turquoise)	purple / violet
pink (including          magenta)	brown		white	grey/gray	black

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “red”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “red”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Further reading

• Template:projectlink

Etymology 2

From the archaic verb rede.

Verb

red

1. (archaic) simple past and past participle of rede

Etymology 3

Verb

red (third-person singular simple present reds, present participle redding, simple past and past participle redded)

1. Alternative spelling of redd

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “redd”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “red”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• DRE, Der, Der., EDR, ERD, RDE, der, erd

---

Bislama

Etymology

From English red.

Adjective

red

1. red

---

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reːd/, [ʁæðˀ]

Verb

red

1. Template:past tense of

---

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt
• IPA^(key): /rɛt/

Verb

red

1. (deprecated template usage) first-person singular present indicative of redden
2. (deprecated template usage) imperative of redden

Anagrams

• der

---

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁeːt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eːt

Verb

red

1. singular imperative of reden

---

Italian

Noun

red

1. a type of rice

---

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish rét.

Noun

red m (genitive singular red, plural reddyn)

1. thing, object, item

   Cha daink reddyn dy mie.

   Things didn't pan out well.

   Cha nel shen deyr son y leagh t'er reddyn nish.

   That's not dear as things go.

   Kanys ta reddyn goll er?

   How are things?

   Son y chied red, t'eh ro vie dy ve firrinagh.

   For one thing, it is too good to be true.

   Ta reddyn couyral.

   Things are getting better.

   Ta reddyn ennagh ayn nagh vel niart ain orroo.

   There are some things we cannot help.

   Ta shen red aitt.

   That's a curious thing.

   T'eh yn un red.

   It amounts to the same thing.

   T'eh çheet stiagh rish yn red elley.

   It falls in with the other thing.

   She'n red hene eh y traa shoh.

   It's the real thing this time.

   Va shen yn red cooie dy ghra.

   That was the appropriate thing to say.

2. matter

---

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English rǣd, from Proto-West Germanic *rād, from Proto-Germanic *rēdaz.

Alternative forms

• ræd, rede, reed

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɛːd/, /reːd/

Noun

red (plural redes)

1. counsel, advice, recommendation
2. persuasion, convincing
3. agreement, permission, allowance
4. decree, edict
5. decision, will, purpose
6. judgement, judicial decision, opinion
7. plan, strategy, programme, plot
8. event, happening, occurence
9. benefit, boon, help
10. deliberation, discussion
11. wisdom

Related terms

• hird

Descendants

• English: rede
• Scots: rede

References

• “rēd, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.

Etymology 2

From Old English hrēod, from Proto-West Germanic *hreud.

Alternative forms

• red, reed, reede, reod, reede, rode, rued

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /røːd/
• IPA^(key): /reːd/

Noun

red (plural redes)

1. reed, flax (plant)
2. The stalk of a reed
3. straw, thatching
4. reed pen

Descendants

• English: reed
• Scots: reed

References

• “rēd, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.

Etymology 3

From Old English rēad, from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós.

Alternative forms

• redde, reed, read, ræd

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɛːd/, /reːd/

Adjective

red (comparative redder, superlative reddest)

1. red, crimson, scarlet (in color)
2. red pigment
3. reddened, dyed red
4. blushing, red-faced
5. bloody, blood-stained
6. ruddy, rosy
7. red-haired
8. red-clothed, wearing red
9. (metal) golden
10. (alchemy) causing transmutation into gold

Descendants

• English: red
• Scots: rede, reid
• Yola: reed

References

• “rēd, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.

Noun

red

1. red (colour)
2. red pigment, vermillion, cinnabar
3. (heraldry) red, gules (tincture)
4. reddish or ruddy skin
5. reddish eyes or irises
6. red fabric
7. red wine
8. blood

Related terms

• Rede See

Descendants

• English: red
• Scots: rede, reid
• Yola: reed

References

• “rēd, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.

See also

Colors in Middle English · coloures, hewes (layout · text)

whit	grey, hor	blak
red; cremesyn, gernet	citrine, aumbre; broun, tawne	yelow, dorry, gul; canevas
grasgrene	grene
plunket; ewage	asure, livid	blewe, blo, pers
violet; inde	rose, murrey; purpel, purpur	claret

---

Northern Kurdish

Verb

red

1. to disappear.

---

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• rei

Verb

red

1. simple past of ri
2. simple past of ride

---

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /red/

Noun

red m

1. Alternative form of ræd

---

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɛt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

red

1. genitive plural of reda

---

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *rędъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rêːd/

Noun

rȇd m (Cyrillic spelling ре̑д)

1. row
2. (mathematics) series

   konvergentan red ― Convergent series

   divergentan red ― Divergent series

3. queue
4. order (of magnitude)
5. order (arrangement, disposition)
6. line (of customers)
7. (chess) rank
8. (religion) order

   franjevački red - order of Saint Francis of Assisi

Declension

Declension of red

	singular	plural
nominative	rȇd	rȅdovi
genitive	rȇda	rȅdōvā
dative	rȇdu	rȅdovima
accusative	rȇd	rȅdove
vocative	rȇde	rȅdovi
locative	rȇdu	rȅdovima
instrumental	rȇdom	rȅdovima

References

• “red” in Hrvatski jezični portal

---

Slovene

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *rędъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /réːt/

Noun

rẹ̑d m inan

1. order (arrangement, disposition)

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine inan., hard o-stem, plural in -ôv-
nom. sing.	réd
gen. sing.	réda
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	réd	redôva	redôvi
genitive (rodȋlnik)	réda	redôv	redôv
dative (dajȃlnik)	rédu	redôvoma	redôvom
accusative (tožȋlnik)	réd	redôva	redôve
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	rédu	redôvih	redôvih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	rédom	redôvoma	redôvi

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine inan., hard o-stem
nom. sing.	réd
gen. sing.	réda
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	réd	réda	rédi
genitive (rodȋlnik)	réda	rédov	rédov
dative (dajȃlnik)	rédu	rédoma	rédom
accusative (tožȋlnik)	réd	réda	réde
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	rédu	rédih	rédih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	rédom	rédoma	rédi

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /réːt/

Noun

rẹ̑d f

1. swath (the track cut out by a scythe in mowing)

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, i-stem, long mixed accent
nom. sing.	réd
gen. sing.	redí
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	réd	redí	redí
genitive (rodȋlnik)	redí	redí	redí
dative (dajȃlnik)	rédi	redéma	redém
accusative (tožȋlnik)	réd	redí	redí
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	rédi	redéh	redéh
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	redjó	redéma	redmí

Further reading

• “red”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

---

Spanish

FWOTD – 8 May 2013

Etymology

From Old Spanish red, from Latin rēte (“net”). Cognate with English rete.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈred/ [ˈreð̞]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ed

Noun

red f (plural redes)

1. (hunting, tools) web, mesh
2. (fishing) net
   • 1911, Benito Pérez Galdós, De Cartago a Sagunto : 13

     Si se consigue pescar a Dorregaray con cuarenta mil duretes, a Cástor Andéchaga con veinticinco mil, y a otros tales, habremos hecho más que cogiendo en la red a los bicharracos de menor cuantía.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. spiderweb
4. trap, snare
5. (communication, transport) net, network

   red de carreteras ― highway network

   red de radiodifusoras ― radio broadcasters network

   red televisiva ― TV broadcasting network

6. (sports) net, goal
7. (electricity) grid

   fuera de la red ― off the grid

8. (informal, sometimes capitalized) Web, Internet
   • 2013 January 16, “España: al 74% le gustaría acceder por Red a su historial clínico”, in El País‎^[4]:

     La mayoría de la población (84%) accede a la red para temas relacionados con la sanidad.

     Most of the population (84%) accesses the web for health-related topics.

   • 2021 January 29, Sara Rivas Moreno, quoting Paula González, “Las pymes montan la tienda en Instagram”, in El País‎^[5], Madrid, →ISSN:

     "Nunca hemos hecho una campaña ni hemos pagado por seguidores, pero como soy prehistórica de la Red, me une una relación de contacto y amistad con muchas influencers; de no ser así, no nos sacarían", puntualiza.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

9. (in the plural) social networks

   Synonym: redes sociales

Derived terms

• enredar
• enredo
• red de pesca
• red social
• red trófica
• redada
• redecilla
• redil
• romperedes

 

Related terms

• reticular
• retina

Further reading

• “red”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

---

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reːd/
• Rhymes: -eːd

Verb

red

1. (deprecated template usage) imperative of reda.
2. (deprecated template usage) past tense of rida.

Anagrams

• der

---

Turkish

Noun

red (definite accusative reddi, plural redler)

1. Alternative form of ret (“refusal, rejection”)

---

Volapük

Etymology

Borrowed from English red.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /red/

Noun

red (nominative plural reds)

1. the colour red

Declension

declension of red

	singular	plural
nominative	red	reds
genitive	reda	redas
dative	rede	redes
accusative	redi	redis
vocative 1	o red!	o reds!
predicative 2	redu	redus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only

Derived terms

• redik

See also

Colors in Volapük · köls (layout · text)

viet	ged	bläg
red	rojan; braun	yelov
	grün
		blöv
violät	purpur	redül