Definition
nounThe colour of the setting sun, blood, and strawberries; the colour which is evoked by the longest visible wavelengths (between about 625–740 nm), and a primary additive colour.
nounA revolutionary socialist or (most commonly) a Communist; (usually capitalized) a Bolshevik, a supporter of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War.
Sentence Examples
I never saw a red fridge.
You ran a red light.
Colours like red convey a sense of energy and strength.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-
Proto-Indo-European *-ós
Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós
Proto-Germanic *raudaz
Proto-West Germanic *raud
Old English rēad
Middle English red
English red
Inherited from Middle English red, from Old English rēad, from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós, from *h₁rewdʰ- + *-ós.
Cognates
See also West Frisian read, Low German root, rood, rot, rod, Dutch rood, German rot, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål rød, Norwegian Nynorsk raud, Swedish röd, Faroese reyður, Icelandic rauður; also Welsh rhudd, Latin ruber, rufus, Tocharian A rtär, Tocharian B ratre, Ancient Greek ἐρυθρός (eruthrós), Albanian pruth (“redhead”), Russian ру́дый (rúdyj) ("red", "redhaired"). Czech rudý, Lithuanian raúdas, Finnish rauta, Estonian raud, Serbo-Croatian riđ ("reddish", "red"), Avestan 𐬭𐬀𐬊𐬌𐬛𐬌𐬙𐬀 (raoidita), Sanskrit रुधिर (rudhirá, “red, bloody”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And although we’ve certainly seen a variety of blue shades — from periwinkle to cobalt and even Dean Cain’s indigo-washed costume from the 1990’s TV show “Lois & Clark” — Superman’s uniform is still instantly recognizable across generations. In fact, there is only one film — Zack Snyder’s 2013 “Man of Steel” — in which Superman does not wear his iconic red belted trunks."
— 2025 February 21, Leah Dolan, “How the Superman ‘S’ became fashion’s favorite logo”, in CNN:
"Red No. 3, red No. 40, blue No. 2 and green No. 3 all have been linked with cancer or tumors in animals. Other sources say red No. 40 and yellow No. 5 and No. 6 contain or may be contaminated with known carcinogens."
— 2025 March 29, Kristen Rogers, “Over half of US states are trying to eliminate food dyes. Here’s what you can do now”, in CNN:
"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."
— 1977 September, Billy Joel, “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”, in The Stranger:
"He produced a wine key from his jacket pocket and effortlessly removed the cork from the bottle of red."
— 2005, Jeffrey P. Landry, Temptation Mango:
"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."
— 2008 January–February, “70 Ways to Improve Every Day of the Week”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 135: