Coffee has initially been a food – chewed, not sipped. Early African tribes consume coffee by grinding the berries together, adding some animal fat, and rolling the treats into tiny edible energy balls.
KERMES
Etymology
Noun
kermes (plural kermes)
(countable) Any of several insects of the genus Kermes.
(uncountable) A crimson dye made from the crushed bodies of these insects.
Anagrams
• Remkes
Source: Wiktionary
Ker"mes, n. Etym: [Ar. & Per. girmiz. See Crimson, and cf. Alkermes.]
1. (Zoöl.)
Definition: The dried bodies of the females of a scale insect (Coccus ilicis), allied to the cochineal insect, and found on several species of oak near the Mediterranean. They are round, about the size of a pea, contain coloring matter analogous to carmine, and are used in dyeing. They were anciently thought to be of a vegetable nature, and were used in medicine. [Written also chermes.]
2. (Bot.)
Definition: A small European evergreen oak (Quercus coccifera) on which the kermes insect (Coccus ilicis) feeds. J. Smith (Dict. Econ. Plants). Kermes mineral. (a) (Old Chem.) An artificial amorphous trisulphide of antimony; -- so called on account of its red color. (b) (Med. Chem.) A compound of the trioxide and trisulphide of antimony, used in medicine. This substance occurs in nature as the mineral kermesite.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
23 November 2024
THEORETICAL
(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”
Coffee Trivia
