common name of a type of clayey soil much used in pigments, late 13c., oker, ocre, from Old French ocre (c. 1300) and directly from Medieval Latin ocra, from Latin ochra, from Greek khra, from khros "pale yellow," a word of unknown origin. It consists hydrated sesquioxids of iron mixed with various earthy materials, principally silica and alumina. As a color name, "brownish-yellow," it is attested from mid-15c. Related: Ochreous.
"color coarsely with red or rouge," 1630s, from raddle (n.) "red ochre used as paint, layer of red pigment" (mid-14c.), fromrad, a variant of red. Related: Raddled, raddling.
As it were to dream of
morticians' daughters raddled but amorous
[Pound, from Canto LXXIV]
brownish-ochre color, by 1760 (terra-sienna), from Italian terra di Sienna "earth of Siena," region in Italy where the coloring material first was produced from a type of earth mined there. It is used as a pigment in both oil and watercolor painting. See Siena.
Burnt sienna is the raw material roasted in a furnace before powdering. By this means the color is changed to a warm reddish brown similar to old mahogany. It is, like raw sienna, translucent in body. [Century Dictionary]
c. 1300, robryk, ribrusch, rubryke, "directions in a liturgical book for participation in religious services" (which often were written in red ink), from Old French rubrique, rubriche "rubric, title" (13c.) and directly from Latin rubrica "red ochre, red coloring matter," from ruber (from PIE root *reudh- "red, ruddy").
The meaning "title or heading of a book" (also originally often printed in red) is from early 15c. The transferred sense of "general rule; descriptive title" is by 1831.Related: Rubrical.
