www.alphadictionary.com

I am not certain if the noun and the verb have a common origin. But the chestnut of that color, a reddish brown may have precipitated the description of fugitive black slaves and thus "lost in the wild"; but then I read that the verb is a corruption of the Spanish cimmaron, meaning wild, untamed.

Interesting how maroon is from chestnut, but chestnut to me is a light brown color. Maroon makes me see red, literally.