alizarin

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A red substance, 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone, extracted from madder root and used as a dye.

   “glass headed pins, oil-golds and copper greens, anthracite blues, alizarins,”

   “In 1883, the German output of alizarin, the brilliant red chemical that imitated natural carmine, reached twelve thousand tons, dwarfing the amount being produced by Perkin's factory in London.”