cochineal
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
cochineal /ˌkɒtʃɪˈniːl, ˈkɒtʃɪniːl/
▶noun
- 1 a scarlet dye used for colouring food, made from the crushed dried bodies of a female scale insect.
- 2 (cochineal insect) the scale insect that is used for cochineal, native to Mexico and formerly widely cultivated on cacti. [Dactylopius coccus.]
– origin C16: from Fr. cochenille or Sp. cochinilla, from L. coccinus ‘scarlet’.
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