English▸ noun a scrambling or prostrate Eurasian plant of the bedstraw family, with whorls of four to six leaves.
Genera Rubia and Sherardia, family Rubiaceae: several species, in particular R. tinctorum of southern Europe and western Asia, formerly cultivated for its root, which yields a red dye, and the Eurasian wild madder (R. peregrina).
▪ a red dye or pigment obtained from the root of the madder plant, or a synthetic dye resembling it.
– ORIGIN Old English mædere, of Germanic origin; obscurely related to Dutch mede, in the same sense.