Late 16th Century Color Words
These words appeared in Istanbul-area estate records from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
The Judas flower. Image credit: Bouba
Erguvânî or erguvan, literally “Judas-flower.” Suraiya Faroqhi describes the color as “a blue-tinged red” [link]; I would call it hot pink, fuchsia, or magenta. In modern Turkish, the word refers to a range of pinkish lilac colors.
Gülgûnî, vermilion (literally “rose-colored”). Eight of the eleven rose-colored garments in the estate records belonged to İsmihan Hatun bt. İlyas, whose record was so profoundly Persianate that even her shifts were referred to as pirihan, not gomlek. The only red-related word in her estate record was gülgûnî, so in her case, at least, gülgûnî simply meant red.
Nârenci, orange.
Turuncu, orange. From Persian toranj.