FromMiddle Englishorchell, fromOld Frenchorchel,orseil, fromOld Catalanorxella (influenced by dialectalArabic[script needed]('urjālla)), fromItalianoricello, fromLatinōricilla, diminutive ofōricula (variant ofauricula), both diminutives ofauris(“ear”)) +illa (a double diminutive suffix) or fromauris(“ear”) +cula +illa. The name of the dye was influenced by the visual resemblance of thelichen used in production to a small ear.
orchil (countable anduncountable,pluralorchils)
Orcein on Wikipedia.Wikipedia