ruddle
9.9
A red powder used for dyeing and marking things like sheep
- noun
- Archaic
:
ruddle
- Ancient stone carvings were often adorned with ruddle to enhance their appearance.
Examples
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Farmers commonly use ruddle to mark their sheep for identification.
-
The proposed Ogle's Mill and Ruddle's Mill roads crossed the Inner Bluegrass plain along routes where topographic variation was comparatively benign.
Academic text (2004) -
The artist used ruddle to create vibrant red marks on the canvas.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A soft reddish brown clay used to make paint
is an iron mineral used for marking and dyeing rather than clay
9.9
A red mineral used to make red dye or paint
is the same material but is a different regional or historic term
9.9
A red powder used to mark sheep and color cloth
is the same purpose but comes as ore rather than fine powder
Surface Forms
Etymology
Ruddle comes from an old root rud- meaning 'red', the same idea you see in the word ruddy. It was the name for a red earth or ore used for dyeing and marking, so remember ruddle as a red pigment.