Russet

Pronunciation

• enPR: rÅ­s'É™t, IPA: /ˈrÊŒsÉ™t/
• Rhymes: -ÊŒsɪt

Origin

Middle English, from Old French rousset, from rous, from Latin russus ("reddish")

Full definition of russet

Noun

1. A coarse, reddish-brown, homespun fabric.
2. Country dress; homespun cloth.
3. A reddish-brown color.
4. Variety of apple of russet-colored, rough skin.
5. Variety of potato with dark gray-brown, rough skin.

Adjective

1. Having a reddish-brown color.
2. Gray or ash-colored (antiquated usage)."Russet-pated" (gray hair). Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, iii. 2.
3. Rustic, homespun, coarse, plain.Shakespeare, Loves Labour's Lost, V. 2
4. "Condition of leather when it is finished, excepting the operations of coloring and polishing the surface." (From 1880s British/American dictionary.)

Derived terms

• russet apple (see above)
• russet potato (see above)
• russeting

Anagrams

• estrus
• struse
• surest