maroon

Where does the word "maroon" come from? It comes from Italian marrone, passing through French before entering English (1590s).

Maroon’s story begins in Italian: marrone meant “a chestnut.” The chestnut, describing the deep brownish-red color of its shell. By 1600s, the word had taken hold in French as marron. Carried into French for the color of the roasted chestnut. It reached English by 1590s as maroon. Settled as the English word for the dark brownish-red color. Today, maroon means a dark brownish-red color.

1. Stage 1 · Italian · 1500s marrone "a chestnut", the chestnut, describing the deep brownish-red color of its shell.
2. Stage 2 · French · 1600s marron "a deep brownish-red color", carried into French for the color of the roasted chestnut.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1590s maroon "a dark brownish-red color", settled as the English word for the dark brownish-red color.