Alliteration is the repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as many men many minds; death defies the doctor. 'Apt alliteration's artful aid.' Churchhill. 'Puffs, powders, patches, bibles, billet-doux.' Pope. In the ancient German and Scandinavian and in early English poetry alliteration took the place of terminal rhymes, the alliterative syllables being made to recur with a certain regularity in the same position in successive verses. In the Vision of William Concerning Piers the Ploughman, for instance, it is regularly employed as in
the following lines: -
Hire robe was ful riche of red scarlet engreyned, With ribanes of red gold and of riche stones;
Hire arraye me ravysshed such ricchesse saw I
neyere; I had wondre what she was and whas wyf she
were.
In the hands of some English poets and prose writers of later times alliteration became a mere conceit. It is still employed in Icelandic poetry, and also in Finnish poetry. So far has alliteration sometimes been carried that long compositions have been written every word of which commenced with the same letter. Research Alliteration
Cochineal is a dye-stuff consisting of the dried bodies of the females of a species of insect, the Coccus Cacti a native of the warmer parts of America, particularly Mexico, and found living on a species of cactus called the cochineal-fig. The insects are brushed softly off, and killed by being placed in ovens or dried in the sun, having then the appearance of small berries or seeds. A pound of cochineal contains about 70,000 of them. The finest cochineal is prepared in Mexico, where it was first discovered, and Guatemala; but Peru, Brazil, Algiers, the East and West Indies, and the Canary Islands have also produced cochineal more or less success. Cochineal produces crimson and scarlet colours, and is used in making carmine and lake. Research Cochineal
Red is a colour ranging from pink (purple-red) to orange (yellow-red). Red is traditionally associated with danger, stop, blood, warnings, prohibition. Red can evoke images of blood, and hence of murder, of ghoulishness and of horror. Red is associated with energy, activity, anger, fertility and is associated with the planetMars and with war.
Apple - Almost any shade of red you wish. A purely poetic term, though more usually applied to a pale green.
Auburn - A reddish-brown colour, the colour of an orang-utan's hair. Auburn is usually used to describe the colour of hair.
Burgundy - A dark, purplish-red colour of Burgundywine.
Crimson - A deep rich-red inclining towards purple.
Ruddle - A deep orange-red ochre-based pigment used for marking sheep.
Ruddy - Tinged with red. Reddish. Implying a colour of blood.
Rusty - Reddish-brown or brownish-orange colour of iron oxide (rust). Rusty implies decay, age, weathering.
Rufous - Rust-coloured. Rufous implies more organic than mineral, an animal may be described as being rufous in colour, while a weathered piece of iron is more likely rusty.
Russet - Reddish-brown. Russet is more usually applied to flora, such as apples or potatoes, while rufous may describe an animal and rusty a mineral or metal item.
Rubicund - Tinged with red. Rubicund is used to describe a person's complexion, and implies the appearance that occurs as a result of excessive good living. The ruddy complexion one might achieve from plenty of alcoholconsumption, for example.
Sanguine - A rather archaic term for the red colour of blood, implying blood.
Xanthic describes something as tending toward a yellow colour, or to one of those colours, green being excepted, in which yellow is a constituent, such as scarlet, orange, etc. In chemistry, the term xanthic refers to something possessing, imparting, or producing a yellow colour, such as xanthic acid, and is also used to refer to something pertaining to xanthic acid, or its compounds. Research Xanthic
Abrus is a genus of papilionaceous plants, of the natural order Leguminosae, one species of which, Abrus precatonus, a delicate twining shrub, a native of the East Indies, and found also in tropical parts of Africa and America, has round brilliant scarlet seeds, which are used to make necklaces and rosaries. Its root is sweetish and mucilaginous, and is used as a substitute for liquorice. The seeds yield a strung poison. Research Abrus
Adenanthera is a genus of trees and shrubs native to the East Indies and Ceylon of the family Leguminosae. Adenanthera pavonina is one of the largest and most handsome trees of India, and yields hard solid timber called red sandal-wood. The bright scarlet seeds, from their equality in weight (each weighing four grains), are used by goldsmiths in the East as weights. Research Adenanthera
Ant-thrush is a name given to certain passerine or perching birds having resemblances to the thrushes and supposed to feed largely on ants. They all have longish legs, short wings, and a short tail. The true ant-thrushes of the Old World belong to the genusPitta. They chiefly inhabit southern and south-eastern Asia and the Eastern Archipelago, but are also found in Africa and Australia, and are birds of brilliant plumage, exhibiting black, white, scarlet, blue, and green in vivid contrast, there being generally no blending of colours by means of intermediate hues. These birds are not now regarded as allied to the thrushes, nor are they allied to the ant-birds, or ant-thrushes of the New World, which live among close foliage and bushes. Some of these are called ant-shrikes and ant-wrens. They belong to several genera. Research Ant-Thrush
The asoka (Jonesia. Asoca) is an Indian tree of the natural order Leguminosae, having a lovely flower, showing orange, scarlet, and bright yellow tints. The asoka is sacred to the god Siva, and is often mentioned in Indian literature. Research Asoka
Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara), dulcamara or woody nightshade, is a highly poisonous perennialsub shrub of the family Solanaceae, woody at the base, with long climbing or trailing stems. The leaves are alternate, ovate and entire or deeply lobed at the base, becoming narrow and more pointed towards the top of the stem. The flowers are violet in colour, have five spreading, later recurved petals and conspicuous yellow anthers. The flowers are arranged in long-stalked terminal cymes in the upper leaf axils. The fruits are scarlet- red coloured, ovoid, berries, rather than black in the case of Belladonna with which it is often confused. The root and twigs have a peculiar bitter-sweet taste, and have been used in decoction for the cure of diseases of the skin. Research Bittersweet
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Alliteration
