warence

Noun

1. Dyer's madder, an herb (Rubia tinctorum) or a reddish dye made from the herb.
   • Rvbea maior is an herbe þat me clepuþ reed mader or warance - [a. 1500, Goesta Brödin, editor, Agnus Castus, A Middle English Herbal, published 1950, page 201:
   • Rubea the moze hath greter leves tis of grete verttue, and is the herbe that warence or madder is made of, therefore it is called the dyers rubea. - 1529, The Grete Herball, Peter Treueris, page 252:
   • The tariff of gate tolls specifies three sorts of articles for dyeing,—madder (warence); orchil or lichen, under the name of korc, […] woad (weide), together with the potash (cendre), used in scouring and dyeing. -...