russet
/ˈɹʌsɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.45 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A coarse, reddish-brown, homespun fabric; clothes made with such fabric.
Countable; Uncountable
adj
Example Sentences
- "Rhacĭnus, ni; m. Plin[y] ex ῥάχινον, ob coloris ſimilitudinem. A fiſh of ruſſet colour."
- "Many of theſe [turf-bogs] are capable of being converted by induſtry into excellent ground, and, where they occupy not too great a proportion of the land, they compenſate for their ruſſet or ſable hues by the abundance of fuel which they yield."
- "And I could tell / What form my dreaming was about to take. / Magnified apples appear and disappear, / Stem end and blossom end, / And every fleck of russet showing clear."
- "Of the various kinds of woollens, the cheapest appear to be those which are known by the names of ‘bluett,’ ‘russet,’ and ‘blanket.’ […] The second appears to have been almost uniformly an inferior article; but the third is the cheapest of all. The first two terms point to the colour of the stuff, blanket being undyed stuff. It seems that sometimes russet is understood to be cloth made from black wool."
- "Russet is the name of a group of apples with distinctive matt brown skin, often spotted or with a faint red flush, and of a flattened lopsided shape. The flesh is crisp and the apples keep well. The flavour is unusual and pearlike. Russets are used both for eating and for cooking."
- "The cauſe of the curled diſease he attributes to potatoes being of late years produced from ſeed inſtead of roots as formerly. Such will not ſtand good more than two or three years, uſe what method you pleaſe. Laſt ſpring he ſet the old red and white ruſſets, and had not a curled potato amongſt them."
Etymology
From Middle English russet, from Anglo-Norman russet, rossat, roset, and Middle French rosset, rousset (“reddish, reddish-brown; a rough wool cloth”), from Middle French rous, rus (“to rouse”) + -et (diminutive suffix); compare Late Latin rossetum, russetum, russeta (“rough wool cloth”), Latin russus (“red”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”)), Occitan rosseta (“rough wool cloth”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɹʌsɪt/
- British English: /ˈɹʌsɪt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
russets (plural)
more russet (comparative)
most russet (superlative)
russets (present, singular)
russeting (participle, present)
russetting (participle, present)
russeted (participle, past)
russeted (past)
russetted (participle, past)
russetted (past)