A.Word.A.Day --russet

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Oct 6, 2009

This week's theme
Autumn colors

This week's words
ecru
russet
sorrel
umber
subfusc

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

russet

PRONUNCIATION:

(RUS-it)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A moderate to strong brown.
2. Any of various articles in this shade: a homespun cloth, apple, potato, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old French rousset, diminutive of rous (red), from Latin russus, from ruber (red). Ultimately from the Indo-European root reudh- (red) that is also the source of red, ruby, rouge, rubric, robust, and corroborate (literally, to make stronger).

USAGE:

"Vieux Lyon is a mass of red, russet, and gray tiled roofs."
Andrea Bolitho; Light & Lively Lyon; France Today (New York); Sep 29, 2009.

See more usage examples of russet in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

In one and the same fire, clay grows hard and wax melts. -Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626)

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