Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words (original) (raw)

adjective

    1. a loudly exploding firework consisting of a cardboard container filled with gunpowder.
    2. a similar firework used as a danger or warning signal, as by railway brakemen.

verb (used with object)

  1. to put ashore and abandon on a desolate island or coast by way of punishment or the like, as was done by buccaneers.
  2. to place in an isolated and often dangerous position:
    The rising floodwaters marooned us on top of the house.
  3. to abandon and leave without aid or resources:
    Having lost all his money, he was marooned in the strange city.

noun

  1. (often initial capital letter) any of a group of Black people, descended from fugitive slaves of the 17th and 18th centuries, living in the West Indies and Guiana, especially in mountainous areas.
  2. a person who is marooned:
    Robinson Crusoe lived for years as a maroon.

/ məˈruːn /

verb

  1. to leave ashore and abandon, esp on an island
  2. to isolate without resources

noun

  1. a descendant of a group of runaway slaves living in the remoter areas of the Caribbean or Guyana
  2. informal.
    a person who has been marooned, esp on an island

/ məˈruːn /

noun

    1. a dark red to purplish-red colour
    2. ( as adjective )
      a maroon carpet
  2. an exploding firework, esp one used as a warning signal

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Word History and Origins

Origin of maroon1

First recorded in

1585–95;

from French marron literally, “chestnut (nut and color), firecracker,” Middle French, from Italian marrone “chestnut, brown”; further origin unknown

Origin of maroon2

First recorded in

1660–70;

from French mar(r)on, apparently from Colonial Spanish cimarrón “wild”; first used in reference to domestic animals that escaped into the woods, later to people who escaped slavery; cimarron

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Word History and Origins

Origin of maroon1

C17 (applied to fugitive slaves): from American Spanish cimarrón wild, literally: dwelling on peaks, from Spanish cima summit

Origin of maroon2

C18: from French, literally: chestnut,

marron 1

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Six overs in, England were 83-0 and it already felt the like the match was over as a contest as the shoulders of those wearing maroon started to droop.

Inspired by flagship designs in SoHo and Milan’s Monte Napoleone, the refreshed space pairs plush maroon seating with brushed steel accents, framing an expanded offering of the house’s latest collections.

First, and most obviously, the boy born in Barbados could have quite easily been in maroon instead of royal blue, in the away dressing room rather than on his home ground for Warwickshire.

At one stage an overthrow gave away five leg byes and even the numbers on the back of the tourists' iconic maroon shirts and jumpers were a random mix of yellow and blue.

The Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship was to depart from Northern Ireland last May, but issues with its rudder stocks meant its guests were marooned in the city for more than four months.