sinople

Meanings

1. A shade of red; sinoper.
2. Sinoper, a kind of red earth historically used as a pigment, originally imported to Greece from Sinope in Paphlagonia.
3. Ferruginous quartz of a blood-red or brownish red colour, sometimes with a tinge of yellow, used to make the pigment sinopia.
4. Vert (green).

Etymology

From Old French sinople, from Latin Sinōpis, from Ancient Greek Σινωπίς (Sinōpís, “of Sinope”), a town that exported a red ocher. The unexpected change to meaning "green" in heraldry occurred in French texts around 1350 for unclear reasons.