Cochineal appears to have been brought to Europe by the Spaniard Hernán Cortés during the conquest of the Aztec Empire and the name 'carmine' is derived from the French carmin.

Alizarin crimson is a dye bonded onto alum which is then used as a pigment and mixed with ochre, sienna and umber.

The word crimson has been recorded in English since 1400,[4] and its earlier forms include cremesin, crymysyn and cramoysin (cf.

These were adapted via Old Spanish from the Medieval Latin cremesinus (also kermesinus or carmesinus), the dye produced from Kermes scale insects, and can be traced back to Arabic qirmizi (قرمزي) ("red") [qrmzj] (listenⓘ), also borrowed in Turkic languages kırmız' and many other languages, e.g. German Karmesin, Italian cremisi, French cramoisi, Portuguese carmesim, Dutch “karmozijn”, etc.

They were used in paints by Michelangelo and for the crimson fabrics of the Hussars, the Turks, the British Redcoats, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

As a food additive in the European Union, carmine dyes are designated E120, and are also called cochineal and Natural Red 4.