I. məˈrün noun
( -s )
Etymology: modification of American Spanish cimarrón, from cimarrón, adjective, wild, savage, literally, living on mountaintops, from Spanish cima top, summit, from Latin cyma young sprout of cabbage — more at cyme
1. usually capitalized
a. : a fugitive Negro slave of the West Indies and Guiana in the 17th and 18th centuries
b. : a descendant of such a slave living in the West Indies and especially in the mountains of Jamaica or in Guiana and especially in Surinam
2. South : marooning party
3. : a person who is marooned
books suited to the life of a maroon on a desert island — T.H.Savory
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to put ashore on a desolate island or coast and leave to one's fate
marooned by mutineers with only a week's supply of food
2. : to place or leave in isolation or without hope of escape
marooned in Europe by the chances of war — S.H.Adams
marooned more than 200 motorists and truckers in the little community for several days — American Guide Series: Michigan
intransitive verb
1. : to escape from slavery
they marooned and fled into the hills
2. South
a. : picnic
b. : to camp out for some days
3. : to live in idleness
marooning about the town
III. noun
or mar·roon “
( -s )
Etymology: French marron, literally, Spanish chestnut
1. : a firework that consists of a pasteboard box wound with strong twine and filled with gunpowder
the banging of maroons would warn us of the coming of a raid — H.G.Wells
2.
a. : a variable color averaging a dark red that is yellower and duller than cranberry, average garnet, or average wine and duller and slightly yellower than pomegranate — called also marron
b. of textiles : a dark red to purplish red that is duller than plum violet