sanguine
noun
- hematite variety
adjective
- optimistic
- relating to blood
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈsæŋ.ɡwɪn/ / /ˈseɪ̯ŋ.ɡwɪn/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English sanguine, from Old French sanguin, ultimately from Latin sanguineus (“of blood”), from sanguis (“blood”) (of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Indo-European *h₁sh₂-én-, from *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”), with an obscure suffix such as *-ǵʰ- (related to body parts)) + -inus + -eus. The obsolete medical sense is in reference to the humour (blood) which ancient Hippocratic and later Galenic medicine associated with cheerfulness, optimism, confidence, liveliness, and spiritedness. Doublet of sanguineous.
- Having the colour of blood; blood red.
- Having a bodily constitution characterised by a preponderance of blood over the other bodily humours, thought to be marked by irresponsible mirth; indulgent in pleasure to the exclusion of important matters.
“What, what, ye sanguine, shallow-hearted boys!”
“I'll be no longer guilty of this sin; this sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horse-back-breaker, this huge hill of flesh.”
- Characterized by abundance and active circulation of blood.
“a sanguine bodily temperament”
“Eleonore Lemindre, aged 34, tailoress, of a sanguine lymphatic temperament, having suffered great depression of spirits, experienced, in the course of 1820, symptoms of what is called disease of the heart.”
- Warm; ardent.
“a sanguine temper”
- Anticipating the best; optimistic; confident; full of hope.
“I'm sanguine about the eventual success of the project.”
“Mrs. Weston was exceedingly disappointed—much more disappointed, in fact, than her husband, though her dependence on seeing the young man had been so much more sober: but a sanguine temper, though for ever expecting more good than occurs, does not always pay for its hopes by any proportionate depression. It soon flies over the present failure, and begins to hope again.”
- Full of blood; bloody.
- Bloodthirsty.
noun
Etymology: From Middle English sanguine, from Old French sanguin, ultimately from Latin sanguineus (“of blood”), from sanguis (“blood”) (of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Indo-European *h₁sh₂-én-, from *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”), with an obscure suffix such as *-ǵʰ- (related to body parts)) + -inus + -eus. The obsolete medical sense is in reference to the humour (blood) which ancient Hippocratic and later Galenic medicine associated with cheerfulness, optimism, confidence, liveliness, and spiritedness. Doublet of sanguineous.
- Blood colour; red.
- Anything of a blood-red colour, as cloth.
- A tincture, seldom used, of a blood-red colour (not to be confused with murrey).
- Bloodstone.
- Red crayon.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English sanguine, from Old French sanguin, ultimately from Latin sanguineus (“of blood”), from sanguis (“blood”) (of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Indo-European *h₁sh₂-én-, from *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”), with an obscure suffix such as *-ǵʰ- (related to body parts)) + -inus + -eus. The obsolete medical sense is in reference to the humour (blood) which ancient Hippocratic and later Galenic medicine associated with cheerfulness, optimism, confidence, liveliness, and spiritedness. Doublet of sanguineous.
- To stain with blood; to impart the colour of blood to; to ensanguine.