▪ I. sanguine, a. and n.
(ˈsæŋgwɪn)
Forms: 4–5 sangueyn(e, -gweyn(e, 4–6 sanguyn(e, -gwyn(e, 4–8 sanguin, 5 sangewyn, -gwayn, -gwen, -gwynne, 6 sangwane, sanguane, -uene, 7 sanguen, 4– sanguine.
[a. F. sanguin (fem. sanguine), ad. L. sanguineus: see sanguineous. Cf. Sp. sanguino.]
A. adj.
1. a. Blood-red. Also sanguine red (sometimes hyphened), † red sanguine, † brown sanguine. Now only literary.
| 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xlv. 12 With..blyu vyolet silc, and sanguyn silc [Vulg. hyacintho et purpura]. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1310 His colour was sangwyn. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. R. xix. xxiv. (1495) 877 Sinopis is a red colour and is callyd Rubrica for it is nexte to redde sangweyne. 1399 in Hampole's Wks. (1896) II. 449 A longe sangwyn gowne furryd with Calabir. 1444 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) II. 106, ij girdils y⊇ tone redde and tother sangvyn. c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 1932 His colour was sangweyn. 1494 Somerset Med. Wills (1901) 323 A sangewyn kyrtyll and a smoke. 1513 Douglas æneis vii. ii. 4 Within hir rosy cartis cleirlie schane Aurora vestit into broun sanguane. 1526 Grete Herball xxviii. (1529) B v b, It is an vnpure thynge and hath a sanguyne coloure. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 625 Interlaced..with certain knots, both white and also of a sanguine red. 1637 Milton Lycidas 106 Like to that sanguine flower inscrib'd with woe. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 153 In Persia the womens pale colour is made sanguine by adulterate complexion. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. clii, Her flag aloft, spread ruffling to the wind, And sanguine streamers seem the flood to fire. a 1668 R. Lassels Voy. Italy (1698) I. 112 The vault is painted with a deep sanguin red. 1757 Gray Bard 185 Yon sanguine cloud, Rais'd by thy breath. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 158 The lilac, various in array, now white, Now sanguine. 1820 Shelley Cloud 31 The sanguine sunrise, with his meteor eyes, And his burning plumes outspread. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 26 In an obscure corner grew the sanguine beet. 1885 G. Meredith Diana iii, The beautiful virgin devoted to the sanguine coat. |
b. Nat. Hist. Chiefly in names of animals and plants, usually as
transl. of
mod.L.
sanguineus in specific names.
| 1783 Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds IV. 657 Sanguine Turtle. 1809 Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. ii. 487 Sanguine Paradise-bird, Paradisea sanguinea. 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xvii. (1818) II. 82 The sanguine ants at length rush upon the negroes. 1839 Lindley Introd. Bot. iii. (ed. 3) 480 Sanguine; dull red, passing into brownish black. 1865 Gosse Land & Sea 261, I may compare the Sanguine Sponge to an uneven, rather than a hilly country. |
2. a. Of or pertaining to blood; consisting of or containing blood. Now
rare.
| 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 259 Dyssentyrye..Wych..Sendyth owte sangweyn agestyoun. 1584 Cogan Haven Health cxl. 125 The tongue is of a spungie and sanguine substance. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Sanguin flesh..is that which is engendred of blood; of which sort is the flesh compounded in the Muscles, the Heart [etc.]. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 60 The Barber, that has stept from the demolishing of Beards, to the Practice of more sanguine Operations. 1716 M. Davies Athen. Brit. III. Diss. Physick 4 Without any Pretensions to that Sanguine Discovery [of circulation of blood], or knowing any thing considerable of it, much less of his Teaching it to Dr. Harvey. 1769 E. Bancroft Guiana 300 That this Poison may duely operate, it is necessary that it should be externally admitted into the sanguine vessels. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 368 The colouring part seems to be richer in the sanguine principle. 1812 [see frustum 2]. 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. vii. iv. § 17. 146 It was..to serpents, that the Greeks likened the dissolving of the Medusa cloud in blood. Of that sanguine rain..I cannot yet speak. 1873 H. E. H. King Disciples, Giov. Nicotera (1877) 307 One sanguine sacramental cup. |
b. Causing or delighting in bloodshed; bloody, sanguinary. Now
poet. or
rhetorical.
| 1705 Hickeringill Priest-cr. i. (1721) 19 The Inquisition, the Hangman, the Dragoons, and the Jaylors, are the Holy Pillars of their Sanguine Priest-craft. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. II. xlii. 115 Ordered both their Heads to be struck off, which ended their Disputes effectually..but Governor Sowdon was sent for to Fort St. George, and another sent in his Place less sanguin. 1736 Ld. J. Hervey Mem. Geo. II (1847) I. 346 The long and sanguine war that soon followed. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam i. xxxi, And Fear, the demon pale, his sanguine shrine forsook. 1872 Blackie Lays Highl. 85 The fiends in hell delight to view The sanguine slaughter done. 1884 Symonds Shaks. Predec. ix. 331 The craziest career which ever closed a brilliant dynasty in sanguine gloom. |
3. a. In mediæval and later physiology: Belonging to that one of the four ‘complexions’ (see
complexion n. 1) which was supposed to be characterized by the predominance of the blood over the other three humours, and indicated by a ruddy countenance and a courageous, hopeful, and amorous disposition.
In the strict use as connected with the doctrine of the four ‘complexions’, the word is now only
Hist.; but the modern writers (chiefly phrenologists) who have attempted a classification of ‘temperaments’ usually retain it as one of their descriptive terms.
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 333 Of his complexioun he was sangwyn. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxxxi. (1495) 689 The vse of pepyr is not prouffitable to Sangueyne men. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 196 The sangueyn man of blood hath hardynesse, Wrouhte to be lovyng, large of his dispence. 1538 Starkey England i. ii. 58 The iiij [sc. complexions]..sanguyn, melancolyk, phlegmatyk, and coleryke. a 1548 Hall Chron. Edw. IV 192 b, A prince of haut corage, young lusty and sanguyne of complexion. 1587 Greene 2nd Pt. Tritameron Wks. (Grosart) III. 144 The Saturnine temperature is necessarie to dry vp the superfluities of the sanguine constitution. 1707 Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 309 A fat sanguine Woman. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Sanguine constitutions require a frequent use of phlebotomy. Sanguine people are usually observed to be brisk, bold, daring, and even presumptuous. 1781 J. Moore View Soc. It. (1790) II. lxii. 228 [A disease] more apt to seize people of a sanguine constitution than others. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxvii. 346 Persons of a sanguine temperament are in general the most susceptible. 1855 Browning An Epist. 109 The man—it is one Lazarus a Jew, Sanguine, proportioned. 1874 Carpenter Ment. Phys. i. ii. §88 (1879) 98 Small brains and great activity, betoken what are known as the sanguine and nervous temperaments. |
b. Astrol. Of signs, etc.: Favourable to the sanguine complexion.
| 1647 Lilly Chr. Astr. vi. 48 [The First Quadrant is] called the Orientall, Vernall, Masculine, Sanguine, Infant quarter. |
c. With reference to ‘complexion’ in the modern sense (see
complexion n. 4): Red in the face.
Cf. sense 1.
| 1684 Lond. Gaz. No. 1982/4 He is very tall, having curled brown Hair, or sanguine Complexion. 1839 De Quincey Recoll. Lakes Wks. 1862 II. 138 A sanguine complexion had, of late years, usurped upon the original bronze-tint. |
4. a. Of persons or their dispositions: Having the mental attributes characteristic of the sanguine complexion (see sense 3 above); chiefly, disposed to hopefulness or confidence of success.
| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xvi. (Percy Soc.) 73 For sanguyne youth it is al contrary. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. ii. iii, He is neither too fantastickally Melancholy; too slowly Phlegmatick, too lightly Sanguine. 1700 Dryden Fables Pref. *B, Our two Great Poets, being so different in their Tempers, one Cholerick and Sanguin, the other Phlegmatick and Melancholick. 1841 Brewster Mart. Sci. ii. iv. (1856) 147 He was of sanguine temperament. 1855 Prescott Philip II, I. i. vii. 97 Philip was not of that sanguine temper which overlooks..the obstacles in its way. 1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xix. 144 It was published..under difficulties which would..have killed any man of less sanguine temperament. |
b. Of persons and expectations, etc.: Hopeful or confident with reference to some particular issue.
| 1673 Lady's Call. Pref. (1684) 4 When the most sanguine of his Disciples had denied, yea forswore, and all had forsaken him. 1712 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Mr. W. Montagu 9 Dec., Sanguine groundless hopes, and..lively vanity..make all the happiness of life. 1735–6 T. Sheridan in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 151 Do not think me sanguine in this; for more unlikely and less reasonable favours have been granted. 1785 Burke Sp. Nabob of Arcot's Debts Wks. IV. 242 In the fond imaginations of a sanguine avarice. 1836 W. Irving Astoria III. ix. 139 He now looked forward with sanguine hope to the accomplishment of all his plans. 1863 M. E. Braddon J. Marchmont iii, It's kind of you to look at it in this sanguine way, Arundel. 1876 A. J. Evans Through Bosnia ix. 417 And yet how fascinating is Ragusa still! It far surpassed our most sanguine expectations. |
5. Comb., parasynthetic and adverbial, as
sanguine-coloured,
sanguine-complexioned,
sanguine-flowered,
sanguine-streaming,
sanguine-valiant adjs.;
sanguine-bilious a., partly sanguine and partly bilious;
sanguine-heart a.,
nonce-wd., crimson at the heart;
sanguine-nervous a., partly sanguine and partly nervous;
† sanguine-rod, the wild cornel or dogwood;
sanguine root = blood-root;
† sanguine stone (see
quot. 1727–41); also
ellipt. as
n.| 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxxi. 424 Jane M{supc}Kernan, aged 28—*sanguine bilious. |
| 1552 Inv. Ch. of Surrey (1869) 31 A *sangwyne coloured coope of Sattyn. 1888 Stevenson Black Arrow 24 Wrapped warmly in a sanguine⁓coloured cloak. |
| 1692 Lond. Gaz. No. 2773/4 Round Shoulder'd and *sanguine Complexion'd. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 44 His fustian shirt, *sanguine⁓flowered, trembles its Spanish tassels at his secrets. |
| 1840 Browning Sordello iii. 356 Where in maple-chamber glooms, Crowned with what *sanguine-heart pomegranate blooms, Advanced it ever? |
| 1842 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 4) 277 A mixture of the sanguine and nervous, the *sanguine-nervous. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 189 The plant called the *Sanguin-Rod. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. xxxiii. 48 The sixth [kind of Geranium] is called..*Sanguine roote, or Bloud roote. |
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. a iii, The .v. stone is calde a Loys, a *sanquine stone or sinamer hit is calde in armys. Ibid., Aloys is calde sinamer or sanquine in armys. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Sanguine stone, lapis Sanguinalis, a kind of Jasper, brought from New-Spain. |
| 1799 H. Gurney Cupid & Psyche xiii. (1800) 35 And *sanguine-streaming fires arise Meteorous from the trembling ground. |
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iii. iii. 101 Audacity and hope alternate in him with misgivings; though the *sanguine-valiant side carries it. |
B. n. † 1. A cloth of blood-red colour, also a piece of this.
| 1319 in Riley Mem. Lond. (1868) 131 [Also two] sanguynes [in grain, value 15 pounds]. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 439 In sangwyn and in pers he clad was al. 1411 in Somerset Med. Wills (1901) 51 [To the aforesaid Alice two] Kirtells, [one of] Sangwyn. |
2. † a. A blood-red colour.
Obs.| a 1500 E.E. Misc. (Warton Club) 90 Thanne ȝour flote is made fore ȝour sangweyns, and also for ȝour viollettes saddere thanne ȝour morreys. 1543 Grafton Contn. Harding (1812) 592 Grained clothe of sondrie coloures, as scarlettes, crimosins, sanguines. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 114 This face [in a picture] had bene more cumlie, if that hie redde in the cheeke, were somwhat more pure sanguin than it is. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. i. 39 From which forth gusht a stream of gore blood thick,..And into a deep sanguine dide the grassy grownd. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 68 They..had all the coate coulours of sanguin, purple, crimson, copper, carnation that were to be had in their countenaunces. 1612 Peacham Gentl. Exerc. I. xxiii. (1634) 80 With which water you may Diaper and Dammaske upon all other blewes, and sanguines to make them shew more faire and beautifull. |
b. Her. (See
quots.)
| 1562 Leigh Armorie 21 The last of all collours, of Armory, which is called Murrey. This is blazed Sanguine, and is a princely colour. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry i. iii. 11 The last of the seuen mixed colors we doe commonly call Murrey, but in Blazon, Sanguine. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Sanguine, the Heralds term for the Colour usually called Murry, being made of Lake with a little Spanish Brown. 1868 Cussans Her. iii. 51 Sanguine [is represented] by diagonal lines intersecting each other. |
† 3. The sanguine ‘complexion’ or temperament.
| 1530 Palsgr. 265/1 Sanguyn a complexion, sanguin. 1594 Lady Russell in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 40 Your Lordships so honorable most kynde..visitacion, as turned melancoly into a sanguin. 1656 H. More Enthus. Tri. (1712) 25 That it is the Reign of Sanguine, not the rule of the Spirit, is discoverable both from the Complexion of the Head of this Sect, as also from the general disposition of his followers. 1718 Hickes & Nelson J. Kettlewell i. ii. 15 His temper was a Mixture of Sanguine and Choler. |
4. Art. A crayon coloured red with iron oxide; a drawing executed with red chalks.
| 1854 Fairholt Dict. Terms Art, Sanguine, a deep blood colour, prepared from oxide of iron. 1882 Hamerton Graphic Arts 115 When an artist uses red chalk or sanguine he does not intend to produce a very powerful effect. Ibid., Examples of fine sanguines are..extremely frequent in every large collection of drawings by the old masters. 1886 Academy 21 Aug. 127/2 An interesting Greuze sketch in sanguine. |
▪ II. † ˈsanguine, v. Obs. [f. sanguine a.] 1. trans. To stain or paint a sanguine colour.
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Pavonado, sanguined as a sword hilt. Politus. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 558 Iron-smiths also haue much vse of bitumen, and namely, in sanguining or colouring their ironworke. 1611 Cotgr., Sanguine, the bloud-stone wherewith Cutlers doe sanguine their hilts. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 140 His face was also sanguined with Vermilion. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 91/2 Sanguining, is to make it [the Hilt and Pommell] of a pure Purple colour. |
2. To stain with blood.
| 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry ii. vi. (1611) 54 It is the honour of a generous minde, to put off his belt, and not to sanguine his blade with cold blood. 1689 J. Bent Bloody Assizes 16 He breathed Death like a destroying Angel, and sanguined his very Ermins in Blood. |
Hence
ˈsanguined ppl. a., stained with blood; of eyes: bloodshot.
| 1700 Parnell Battle Frogs & Mice i. 111 He rolls his sanguin'd Eyes. a 1814 Gonzanga iii. i. in New Brit. Theatre III. 126 That life..Which..Heav'n did preserve In battle on Bulgaria's sanguin'd plains. |