▪ I. russet, n. and a.
(ˈrʌsɪt)
Also 4–6, 9 russett (6 -ette), 5–6 russat, 7 russed, rushet; 5 rousset, -at, 6 -ett; 5 rosset(e, roset(t)e, 5–6 roset, 6 rosat.
[a. OF. rousset, rosset, roset, etc., dim. of rous (mod.F. roux) red: see rouse a. Cf. also F. roussette n. fem.]
A. n.
1. a. A coarse homespun woollen cloth of a reddish-brown, grey or neutral colour, formerly used for the dress of peasants and country-folk; also with a and pl., a kind or make of this.
| c 1275 Serving Christ 70 in O.E. Misc. 92 Ne geyneþ vs..Þe robes of russet ne of rencyan. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ix. 1 Thus i-robed in russet, romed I a-boute. 1377 Ibid. B. xv. 162 Charite..is as gladde of a goune of a graye russet As of a tunicle of tarse or of tyre scarlet. 1417 E.E. Wills 27, xiij. poure men clothed in Russett ylyned witt white. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxvi. 571 Thenne reynaude..toke a cote of sory russet vpon his flesshe. 1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 3 A certayne kinde and sorte of walshe clothes called whytes, russettes, and kenettes. 1561 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. vi. 190 My gowne of london russet, furred with black. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 109 Ouer their shashes the men weare rounds of stiffened russet; to defend their braines from the piercing feruor. 1685 Dryden Pref. to Sylvæ Ess. (Ker) I. 265 Like a fair shepherdess in her country russet, talking in a Yorkshire tone. 1730–46 Thomson Autumn 353 Be mindful of those limbs in russet clad. a 1763 Shenstone Elegies x. 52 Yet sure on Delia seems the russet fair. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxvi, I wore russet before I wore motley. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. 576 Russet was the dress affected by the Lollards. |
| fig. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 24 Constreynt of colde makith floures dare With winter frostes,..All clad in russet, the soil of grene is bare. 1762 Churchill Prophecy of Famine Wks. 1767 I. 89 Far as the eye could reach, no tree was seen, Earth, clad in russet, scorn'd the lively green. |
† b. pl. Garments of such cloth. Obs.
| 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. iv. xx. (1602) 95 He borrowed on the working daies his holy russets oft. 1627 S. Ward Life of Faith 112 See whether hee will cry when you bid him lay off his russets? a 1645 Heywood Fortune by Land & Sea ii. i, And so you were..forc'd to put on these russets and sheepskins. |
2. A reddish-brown colour; a shade of this.
| 1532–3 Act 24 Hen. VIII, c. 13 Veluette, satten, and damaske, being of the colours of blacke, tawny, or russet. 1573 Art of Limming p. viii, If you will mingle a litle portion of white with a good quantitie of redde, you may make thereof a Russet, or a sadde Browne, at your discretion. 1624 Middleton Game at Chess ii. i, Take these papers, Scorch me 'em soundly, burn 'em to French russet, And put 'em in again. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 344/2 With..an Hand Brush..Plasterers..lay Whiting and Russet within their own compass or reaching. 1719 London & Wise Compl. Gard. 90 'Tis Gray, over-cast with something of a Russet, coming near the Colour of the Belly of a Doe. 1834 Mudie Brit. Birds (1841) I. 172 There is russet in the spots of the starling. 1875 Stevenson Ess. Trav., Autumn Effect (1905) 119 The sky was an opal-gray, touched here and there..with certain faint russets that looked as if they were reflections of the colour of the autumnal woods below. |
3. a. A variety of eating apple, of a reddish or yellowish brown colour, or marked with brownish spots, and having a rough skin; an apple of this kind. (Cf. the earlier russeting n. 3.)
| 1708 J. Philips Cyder i. 30 Of pimpled Coat The Russet, or the Cats-Head's weighty Orb. 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece ii. iii. 352 Apples{ddd}Winter Pearmain, Aromatick Russet, Pear Russet. 1843 J. Smith Forest Trees 156 Golden russet will do ordinarily well as a standard. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 59 Golden pippins, Golden russet. a 1898 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton in Layard Life (1901) ii. 26 He filled my pockets with golden russets. |
| attrib. 1887 Jefferies Amaryllis xii, Iden junior sent in the best apples for sauce from his favourite russet trees. |
† b. A variety of pear. [F. roussette.] Obs.
| 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v. Pears, Skinless Pear, is a Russet in Shape and Taste. |
4. A species of noctuid moth.
| 1832 J. Rennie Butterfl. & M. 72 The Russet..appears in August. |
5. (See quots. and cf. B. 5.) Also attrib.
| 1851–3 Tomlinson's Cycl. Useful Arts (1867) II. 35/2 At this part of the process, the currier stores his skins, because they are brought to that state (technically called finished russet) in which they can be best preserved. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Rus[s]et-offal,..kip or calf curried leather. |
B. adj.
1. a. Of a reddish-brown colour.
In the 15th and 16th cent. usually of cloth.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 237 Maluesye and muskadelle, þase meruelyous drynkes, Raykede fulle rathely in rossete cowpes. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 325 The rewde god Pan,..Clad in russet frese. 1465 Paston Lett. II. 232, ij peyir hose, j peyir blak and an othyr payir roset. 1562 Legh Armorie (1597) 116 Some part of them of colour Russet, which is somewhat lighter then blacke. 1594 Warres of Cyrus 226 The woods Where first the hounds put vp a russet beare. 1632 Milton L'Allegro 71 Russet Lawns, and Fallows Gray, Where the nibling flocks do stray. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 127 Either that of a russet colour,..or that of a shining green. 1704 Pope Windsor Forest i. 23 In full light the russet plains extend. 1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 273 Sir Simon..beheld one blue stocking peeping above the boot, the other russet. 1820 Scott Monast. viii, The oak-trees only retained that pallid green that precedes their russet hue. 1848 Dickens Dombey lix, Objects began to take a bleared and russet colour in his eyes. 1877 W. Black Green Past. xxxiv, We saw an eagle slowly sailing over the russet woods. |
b. Applied to varieties of apples († or pears).
| 1629 J. Parkinson Parad. iii. xix. 587 The Russet pippin is as good an apple as most of the other sorts of pippins. Ibid. xxi. 592 The russet Catherine is a very good middle sized peare. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. Oct., Pears.—The caw-pear.., clove-pear, roussel-pear,..russet-pear. Ibid. (1729) 191 Apples, Kentish Pippin, Russet Pippin, Golden Pippin [etc.]. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Leaves, On the sixth of August, he cut off a large Russet-Pippin. 1887 Besant World Went i. 3 Creased and lined like a russet apple. 1929 M. de la Roche Whiteoaks vii. 99 ‘H'm,’ grunted Finch, tearing a bite from a russet apple. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 5/1 (caption) Seventy-eight acres of..Russet and Tolman Sweet apple trees, all of them laden with ripe fruit. |
c. In names of birds, as russet kingfisher, russet starling, russet wheatear; or plants, as russet sedge.
| c 1700 in Dampier Voyages (1729) III. 403 Russet King's Fisher. Is known by a white Ring about his neck. 1783 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds II. ii. 468 Russet Wheat Ear. 1859 Miss Pratt Brit. Grasses VI. 34 Russet Sedge. Fertile spikelets ovate, obtuse, the lower one stalked. 1883 19th Cent. Aug. 302 The russet-starling seems possessed with an insatiable desire to kill insects. |
d. Qualifying adjs. and ns. denoting colour.
| 1676 Phil. Trans. XI. 585 Some kinds of those black and russet-tawny Plums may be dried in a kind of Solar stove. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Pyrus, The Skin is..of a Russet-green Colour. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. ii. xxxiii. In russet brown bedight,..He crept along. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 92 A russet red the hazels gain. 1861 J. G. Whittier Cobbler Keezar in Poet. Wks. (1898) 84/2 Yellow and red were the apples, And the ripe pears russet-brown. 1873 Longfellow Wayside Inn iii. Emma & Eginhard 87 The leaves fell, russet-golden and blood-red. 1959 E. Pound Thrones cii. 82 The colour..As lacquer in sunlight haliporphuros, russet-gold In the air. |
e. Comb., as russet-backed, russet-bearded, russet-clad, russet-coloured, russet-faced, russet-haired, russet-pated, russet-roofed, russet-skinned. Also russet-coated.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 21 As Wilde-geese, that the creeping Fowler eye, Or russet-pated choughes. 1704 Dict. Rust., Pear-skinless..is longish shaped, and Russet-colour'd. 1743 G. Edwards Nat. Hist. Birds I. 31 The Red or Russet-colour'd Wheat-Ear. 1849 Thoreau Week Concord Riv. 19 It may be many russet-clad children lurking in those broad meadows. 1854 G. J. Whyte-Melville Gen. Bounce i, Those gaunt, grim, russet-bearded giants that made the despot of the Lower Empire quake upon his throne. 1878 G. M. Hopkins Lett. to R. Bridges (1955) 48 He [sc. a seaman]..is..russet-of-morning-skinned With the sun, salt, and whirling wind. 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 247 T[urdus] ustulatus... Russet-Backed Thrush. 1897 W. B. Yeats Secret Rose 80 A russet-faced boy..sat..watching the swallows. 1898 The Month Nov. 487 Its clustering, russet-roofed hamlets. 1936 M. H. Bradley Five-Minute Girl ix. 159 A small girl of eight, hazel-eyed, russet-haired. |
2. a. Of garments, etc.: Made of russet cloth.
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 830 Eek as for hail a russet weede is To kest vpon the querne. 1459 Paston Lett. I. 476 Item, iij. quarters of a russet gowne withought slevys. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxv. (Percy Soc.) 180 In a russet banner on the sixt heade There was wrytten this worde, Detraction. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 21 And we poore herdes in russet cloke and hode, It is not clothynge can make a man be good. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. i. 166 But looke, the Morne in Russet mantle clad, Walkes o're the dew of yon high Easterne Hill. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xviii. 116 He weares russet clothes, but makes golden payment. 1742 Shenstone Schoolmistr. 64 A russet stole was o'er her shoulders thrown. 1788 Burns Written in Friars-Carse Hermitage 2 Be thou clad in russet weed, Be thou deckt in silken stole. 1826 Hood A Fairy Tale viii, Weary of sitting on her russet clothing. 1828 Macaulay Ess., Milton (1851) I. 8 His muse had no objection to a russet attire. 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. (ed. 4) 133 One Pair ‘Russett’ Woollen Trousers, undyed, handspun, and woven. |
† b. russet gown, a country girl. Obs.—1
| 1703 in Ashton Soc. Life Q. Anne II. 112 Squires come to Court to some fine Town Lady, and Town Sparks to pick up a Russet Gown. |
3. Clad in russet or homespun cloth.
| c 1613 Middleton No Wit like a Woman's iv. ii, I've given welcome To forty russet yeomen at a time. 1635 Taylor Parr in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) IV. 209 From the emp'ror to the russet clown, All states, each sex, from cottage to the crown. 1642 H. More Song of Soul ii. xlii, He pincht his hat, and from his horses side Stretcht forth his russet legs. |
4. Rustic, homely, simple.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 413 Henceforth my woing minde shall be exprest In russet yeas, and honest kersie noes. 1603 Dekker & Chettle Grissil 935 This is thy russet gentrie, coate and crest: Thy earthen honors I will neuer hide. 1652 Benlowes Theoph. xii. ii, Ill suits it with a Russet Life, to write Court-Tissue. 1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xii. 88 That terse and epigrammatic style..which, with its russet Saxon, has since given him one of the highest positions in the Parliamentary arena. |
5. Of boots or shoes: Made of leather which has not been blackened; tan, brown.
| 1667 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 102 To Rich for blacking my russet shoes. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. vi, With russet boots on his feet. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 274 The minstrel's garb..was not always the short laced tunic, tight trousers, and russet boots. 1893 J. Ashby-Sterry Naughty Girl vi, Their print frocks, their pinafores, their russet shoes were gone. |
Hence ˈrussetly adv., with a russet colour; in a russet state. poet.
| c 1864 E. Dickinson Poems (1955) II. 687 Though Pyramids decay And Kingdoms, like the Orchard Flit Russetly away. |
▪ II. russet, v.
(ˈrʌsɪt)
[f. the adj.]
1. trans. To render russet in colour; † to scorch or parch to a russet colour.
| a 1592 Greene Vision Wks. (Grosart) XII. 224 His doublet was of leather, russeted after the best fashion. 1628 Feltham Resolves ii. xviii, If the Land be russeted with a bloudlesse Famine, are not the poore the first that sacrifice their liues to Hunger? 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 396/1 Plasterers..may..Whitten, Russet, or Black any Posts, or parts of an House. 1730 Thomson Hymn Seasons 96 The Summer ray Russets the plain, inspiring Autumn gleams. 1903 Daily Chron. 28 May 7/3 The whole surface [of a sword] russeted, and encrusted with cherubs' heads. |
2. intr. To become russet in colour.
| 1678 Vaughan Silex Scint. iii. Thalia Rediv. 245 Our grass straight russets, and each scorching day Drinks up our brooks. 1891 [see the ppl. a.]. |
Hence ˈrusseting ppl. a.
| 1891 Daily News 23 Sept. 3/1 Under the russeting boughs of the trees. |
▪ III. russet
obs. form of roset a.