呉の藍

Japanese

Kanji in this term
呉	藍
くれ Grade: S	あい Grade: S
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
吳の藍 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

From Old Japanese, first attested in the Wamyō Ruijushō (938 CE); derivative term kurenai (see Derived terms) already attested earlier in the Kojiki (712 CE).

Compound of 呉(くれ) (Kure, “China”) + の (no, possessive particle) + 藍(あい) (ai, “indigo → dye → any plant used as dye”).

Noun

呉(くれ)の藍(あい) • (kure-no-ai) ^{←くれのあゐ (kurenoawi)?}

1. (archaic, possibly obsolete) the safflower plant, Carthamus tinctorius

   Synonyms: 紅 (kurenai), 紅花 (kōka, benibana), 末摘花 (suetsumuhana)

Derived terms

• 紅(くれない) (kurenai, “crimson; safflower”)