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san·guine (sănggwĭn)
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adj.
1.
a. Cheerfully confident; optimistic: sanguine about the prospects for an improved economy.
b. At ease; accepting: "Deborah was generally sanguine about the women in Franklin's life" (Walter Isaacson).
2. Archaic
a. Having blood as the dominant humor in terms of medieval physiology.
b. Having the temperament and ruddy complexion formerly thought to be characteristic of a person dominated by this humor; passionate.
3.
a. Of the color of blood; red.
b. Of a healthy reddish color; ruddy: a sanguine complexion.
[Middle English, blood-red, dominated by the humor blood, ruddy, from Old French sanguin, from Latin sanguineus, bloody, blood-red, from sanguis, sanguin-, blood.]
sanguine·ly adv.
sanguine·ness, san·guini·ty n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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