orpiment

American  

[awr-puh-muhnt] / ˈɔr pə mənt /

noun

1. a mineral, arsenic trisulfide, As 2 S 3 , found usually in soft, yellow, foliated masses, used as a pigment.

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orpiment British  

/ ˈɔːpɪmənt /

noun

1. a yellow mineral consisting of arsenic trisulphide in monoclinic crystalline form occurring in association with realgar: it is an ore of arsenic. Formula: As 2 S 3

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Etymology

Origin of orpiment

1350–1400; Middle English < Old French < Latin auripigmentum pigment of gold; see auri- ¹, pigment

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

orpiment

I stuck my head inside a cabinet to get a close look at the rocks of the arsenic sulfides realgar and orpiment, blazes of flame orange locked within the crystals.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 27, 2018

He thought of himself as a reformer—manufacturing fresh reds, greens, and yellows to replace older, toxic pigments like cinnabar and orpiment.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 27, 2018

Then José Arcadio Buendía threw three doubloons into a pan and fused them with copper filings, orpiment, brimstone, and lead.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Put some quicklime and red orpiment in water, place some warm ashes under it for a whole day, filter the liquor, and cork it down.

From The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families by Mary Eaton

These latter are first rolled in mud moistened with vinegar, to prevent the fire from consuming too much of the copper with the bitumen, or sulphur, or orpiment, or realgar.

From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Georgius Agricola