ochre
/ˈoʊkɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.69 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any of various brown-coloured hesperiid butterflies of the genus Trapezites.
Countable; Uncountable
adj
Example Sentences
- "‘What does he come here cheeking us for, then?’ cried Master Kidderminster, showing a very irascible temperament. ‘If you want to cheek us, pay your ochre at the doors and take it out.’"
- "[…] his eye was caught by the sight of one child in a group of smaller children playing in the shallows some little distance down—a white child, so white by contrast with the others that at first he thought it must be ochred, which it could not be while playing in the water."
- "The sun gloats in the sky, casting a gleam on the pasture where there was so much umbering and ochreing only moments before."
Etymology
From Old French ocre and its source Latin ōchra, from Ancient Greek ὤχρα (ṓkhra, “pale yellow”), from ὠχρός (ōkhrós, “pale, ocher”) (modern Greek ωχρός (ochrós)).
Origin
- Source language: Old French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈoʊkɚ/
- British English: /ˈəʊkə/