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magenta

ma·genta

US/məˈd͡ʒɛntə/ uncommon
noun (2) adjective (1)

noun

1.

a dark purple-red; the dye was discovered in 1859, the year of the battle of Magenta

Synonyms
2.

a battle in 1859 in which the French and Sardinian forces under Napoleon III defeated the Austrians under Francis Joseph I

Synonyms

adjective

1.

Origin

Borrowed from French magenta, from Italian Magenta, in commemoration of the Franco-Italian victory at the Battle of Magenta in 1859. An aniline dye in this colour had been invented the same year by French chemist François-Emmanuel Verguin and was named in honour of the battle. The town's name derives from Latin Castra Maxentia (“the camp named Maxentia”), referring to the emperor Maxentius. Compare Castra Regina for a similar appositional use of a proper noun with castra.

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.