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sanguine

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

WOTD – 30 March 2006
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English sanguine, from Old French sanguin, ultimately from Latin sanguineus (“of blood”), from sanguis (“blood”), of uncertain origin, perhaps Proto-Indo-European *h₁sh₂-én-, from *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”). Doublet of sanguineous.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsæŋ.ɡwɪn/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -æŋɡwɪn

Adjective

sanguine (comparative more sanguine, superlative most sanguine)

  1. (literary) Having the colour of blood; blood red. [from late 14th c.]
    Synonym: incarnadine
  2. (obsolete, physiology) Having a bodily constitution characterised by a preponderance of blood over the other bodily humours, thought to be marked by irresponsible mirth; indulgent in pleasure to the exclusion of important matters.
    Synonyms: debaucherous, sybaritic
  3. Characterized by abundance and active circulation of blood.
    a sanguine bodily temperament
    • 1833, R. J. Bertin, translated by Charles W. Chauncy, Treatise on the Diseases of the Heart, and Great Vessels, Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Blnachard, page 188:
      Eleonore Lemindre, aged 34, tailoress, of a sanguine lymphatic temperament, having suffered great depression of spirits, experienced, in the course of 1820, symptoms of what is called disease of the heart.
  4. Warm; ardent.
    Synonyms: animated, buoyant, spirited
    a sanguine temper
  6. Anticipating the best; optimistic; confident; full of hope. [from early 16th c.]
    Synonyms: assured, bright, bullish, cheerful, cheery, confident, hopeful, optimistic, positive, ridibund, upbeat
    Antonyms: blue, despondent, gloomy, pessimistic
    I'm sanguine about the eventual success of the project.
    • 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XVIII, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, pages 306–307:
      Mrs. Weston was exceedingly disappointed—much more disappointed, in fact, than her husband, though her dependence on seeing the young man had been so much more sober: but a sanguine temper, though for ever expecting more good than occurs, does not always pay for its hopes by any proportionate depression. It soon flies over the present failure, and begins to hope again.
    • 1857, Anthony Trollope, “The Master and Tutor of Lazarus”, in Barchester Towers. […], copyright edition, volume II, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1859, →OCLC, page 101:
      It was clear that Dr. Gwynne was not very sanguine as to the effects of his journey to Barchester, and not over anxious to interfere with the bishop.
    • 1949 May and June, “Notes and News: Closing of Boddam Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 203:
      When the railway was opened on August 2, 1897, it was expected that Cruden Bay, on the Aberdeenshire coast, would develop into a popular holiday resort, but this sanguine forecast was never fully realised.
    • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “McWatt”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page page:
      The plan was not feasible, for making a ninety-degree turn would have been impossible without nickel-alloy swivels inserted in the small of every man's back, and Lieutenant Scheisskopf was not sanguine at all about obtaining that many nickel-alloy swivels from Quartermaster or enlisting the cooperation of the surgeons at the hospital.
    • 2022 February 2, Charlotte Cowles, “Can ‘Body Neutrality’ Change the Way You Work Out?”, in The New York Times:
      Maybe it was hormones, or the immersion of parenting a newborn, or a new appreciation for what my body could do, but I felt surprisingly sanguine about my wobbly physical state.
  7. (archaic) Full of blood; bloody.
    Synonyms: bloodied, gory, sanguinolent
  8. (archaic) Bloodthirsty.
    Synonyms: bloodlusty, homicidal, murderous

Usage notes

Not to be confused with sanguinary.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

sanguine (countable and uncountable, plural sanguines)

  1. Blood colour; red.
    sanguine:  
  2. Anything of a blood-red colour, as cloth.
  3. (heraldry) A tincture, seldom used, of a blood-red colour (not to be confused with murrey).
  4. Bloodstone.
  5. Red crayon.

Translations

Verb

sanguine (third-person singular simple present sanguines, present participle sanguining, simple past and past participle sanguined)

  1. To stain with blood; to impart the colour of blood to; to ensanguine.

See also

redsedit

Further reading

Anagrams

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French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɑ̃.ɡin/
  • Audio (France (Lyon)):(file)
  • Hyphenation: san‧guine

Noun

sanguine f (plural sanguines)

  1. (heraldry) a tincture, seldom used, of a blood-red colour (not to be confused with murrey, which is mûre in French)

Adjective

sanguine

  1. feminine singular of sanguin

Further reading

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Interlingua

Interlingua Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ia

Pronunciation

Noun

sanguine (uncountable)

  1. blood

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sanguinem (“blood”), in reference to the red colour/color of the stems.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsan.ɡwi.ne/
  • Rhymes: -anɡwine
  • Hyphenation: sàn‧gui‧ne

Noun

sanguine m (plural sanguini)

  1. (uncountable) synonym of sanguinella (“common dogwood”)
  2. a common dogwood plant

Further reading

  • sanguine in Aldo Gabrielli, Grandi Dizionario Italiano (Hoepli)
  • sanguine in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
  • sanguine in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
  • sanguine in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Pronunciation

Noun

sanguine

  1. ablative singular of sanguis

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French sanguin (and feminine sanguine), from Latin sanguineus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sanˈɡiːn/, /sanˈɡwiːn/, /ˈsanɡin/, /ˈsanɡwin/

Adjective

sanguine

  1. Having a bloody-red hue; coloured in sanguine or a similar colour.
  2. Under the influence of blood as a cardinal humour (inherently or in the current case)
  3. Due to the influence or presence of a dangerous profusion of blood.
  4. Made of or created from blood (as a humour); bloody.

Descendants

  • English: sanguine

References

Noun

sanguine (plural sanguynes)

  1. A bloody red colour; sanguine or blood red.
  2. A kind of fabric that is sanguine-coloured or the colour of blood.
  3. Blood as one of the four cardinal humours believed to influence health and mood.
  4. (rare) A swollen region or edema attributed to an excess of blood.
  5. (rare) A person primarily under the influence of blood as a cardinal humour.

Coordinate terms

Descendants

References

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