blusher

The word 'blusher' is a transparent modern English compound. Its core, 'blush', originates from the Old English verb 'blyscan', which meant "to glow red, to shine," a word likely of imitative origin related to the sudden flush of blood to the skin. The agent suffix '-er', of Germanic origin, is productively attached to verbs to indicate "one who does" something. Therefore, the literal sense is "one who blushes." This logic was directly applied to cosmetics in the 20th century, where the product is the "thing that performs the action of blushing" on the cheeks, creating the appearance of a natural flush.

Structure: blush (to become red in the face) + er (agent suffix) 'blush' is from Old English 'blyscan', meaning "to become red, shine." The '-er' suffix is an agent-forming suffix from Old English '-ere', used to form nouns denoting a person or thing performing an action.