[kur-meez] 
| 1. | a red dye formerly prepared from the dried bodies of the females of a scale insect, Kermes ilices, which lives on small, evergreen oaks of the Mediterranean region. |
| 2. | the oak itself, of the genus Quercus coccifera. |
| ker·mes (kûr'mēz) n. A red dyestuff once prepared from the dried bodies of various female scale insects of the genus Kermes. [French kermès, short for alkermès, from Arabic al-qirmiz, the kermes, probably from Sanskrit kṛmi-ja-, (red dye) produced by worms; see kw  mi- in Indo-European roots.] |
kermes
a species of scale insect in the family Kermesidae (order Homoptera), the common name of which also represents the red dye that is obtained from the dried bodies of these insects. The dye was often part of the tribute paid to conquering Roman armies, and, in the Middle Ages, landlords accepted it as payment for rent. The oldest known red dyestuff, resembling but inferior in colour to cochineal, it was used by the early Egyptians
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