vermilion [ME] The name for this brilliant red colour and pigment goes back to Latin vermis ‘a worm’, source also of vermin [ME], and its variant varmint [M16th]. The reason for the unlikely connection probably lies in the red colours crimson and carmine (see arabic words), which were originally extracted from the body of the kermes insect. People mistakenly thought that vermilion was also derived from an insect or worm, although its main early source was in fact cinnabar, a bright red mineral.