maroon

Etymology 1

From French marron (“feral; fugitive”, adjective), from Spanish cimarrón (“fugitive, wild, feral”); see that entry for more.

noun

1. An escaped negro of the Caribbean and the Americas or a descendant of such a person.
   Further north a Maroon community in the Bahoruco Mountains thrived for eighty-five years, until the French proposed a truce under the terms of which the Maroons would be permitted to form an independent clan. 1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 193
   Joining others who had escaped before them, they formed communities of Maroons in which many traditional African customs and social mores were preserved. 2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books, page 14
2. A castaway; a person who has been marooned.

adj

1. Associated with Maroon culture, communities or peoples.
   In her discussion of Michelle Cliff's Abeng, a novel that historicizes maroon culture and the Jamaican warrior heroine Nanny of the Maroons, Francoise Lionnet examines linguistic “metissage” […] 2002, Cynthia James, The Maroon Narrative: Caribbean Literature in English Across Boundaries, Ethnicities, and Centuries, Heinemann Educational Books

verb

1. To abandon in a remote, desolate place, as on a desert island.
   Hard-hit by the Arctic winter, the Waverley route was completely closed from January 6-9, when an avalanche between Whitrope and Riccarton marooned Class A2 4-6-2 No. 60535 Hornet's Beauty. 1963 April, “Winter on the Waverley”, in Modern Railways, page 281, photo caption
   After the harrowing stories of being marooned at sea and stranded in the frozen wastelands of Alaska and the Poles, one would think that survival on dry land would be easier […] 2010, Brogan Steele, From the Jaws of Death: Extreme True Adventures of Man vs. Nature, St. Martin's Griffin, page 231

Etymology 2

French marron (“chestnut; brown”), from Italian marrone (“chestnut; brown”). Compare Spanish marrón.

noun

1. A rich dark red, somewhat brownish, color.
   maroon:
   Is it a really dark maroon or a lighter maroon or a maroon that leans toward the red side? Or the magenta side? To address this issue, scientists use something called a color space. 2009, Ben Long, The Nikon D90 Companion: Practical Photography Advice You Can Take Anywhere, O'Reilly Media, Inc., page 176

adj

1. Of a maroon color

Etymology 3

Unknown. Possibly related to the sense “castaway” (etymology 1), or owing to the fact that the color of a fired flare was commonly red (etymology 2).

noun

1. (nautical) A rocket-propelled firework or skyrocket, often one used as a signal (e.g. to summon the crew of a lifeboat or warn of an air raid).
   On Sunday afternoon a serious firework explosion occurred in Lambeth, whereby three persons were seriously injured. Two lads […] purchased a firework called a “maroon”, which is a bomb consisting of a small ball of string covered with a red composition. It is loaded with gunpowder, and there is also a fuse attached. 5 November 1887, “Metropolitan Reports”, in The Chemist and Druggist, page 564
   As the evening falls, colored lamps and Chinese lanterns are lighted around the venerable oak which stands in the middle of the fairground and boys climb about among its topmost branches with maroons and Bengal lights. 1891, Alexander Kielland, “At the Fair”, in William Archer, transl., Tales of Two Countries, New York: Harper, page 73
   Many a seaman’s life may have depended on equine speed and strength. Some of these ‘Lifeboat Horses’ used to recognise the maroon which was fired to summon the Lifeboat crew. Long after its retirement one of the horses which regularly helped to haul the Hoylake Lifeboat heard a maroon fired one day when it was working in the neighbouring fields. It immediately became very excited and made for the boathouse. 1900, Alan C. Jenkins, Introducing Horses, London: Spring Books
   And now I am off to inspect stores. There is a shortage of maroons that I don’t understand. 1932, George Bernard Shaw, Too True to Be Good, act II
   The big air raids […] were much more dreadful than the air raids of the World War. They began with a nightmare of warning maroons, sirens, hooters and the shrill whistles of cyclist scouts, then swarms of frantic people running to and fro […] 1933, H. G. Wells, The Shape of Things to Come, Book 2, Chapter 9

Etymology 4

table From an intentional mispronunciation of the word moron used by the cartoon character Bugs Bunny.

noun

1. (slang, derogatory) An idiot; a fool.
   At least, I would not be sleeping that night. Why did I have that espresso? What a maroon! 2011, S. Watts Taylor, Tarnish, iUniverse, published 2011, page 21