bistre

American  

[bis-ter] / ˈbɪs tər /

Or bister

noun

1. a brown pigment extracted from the soot of wood, often used in pen and wash drawings.

2. a yellowish to dark-brown color.

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bistre British  

/ ˈbɪstə /

noun

1. a transparent water-soluble brownish-yellow pigment made by boiling the soot of wood, used for pen and wash drawings

2. 1. a yellowish-brown to dark brown colour

   2. ( as modifier )

      bistre paint

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Other Word Forms

• bistred adjective

Etymology

Origin of bistre

1720–30; < French, Middle French, of obscure origin

Example Sentences

No. 403 of four hundred and fifteen copies printed on large paper, with a duplicate set of the six engravings in bistre on Japan paper, and the initial letters and rules printed in red.

From A Catalogue of Books in English Later than 1700 (Vol 3 of 3) Forming a portion of the library of Robert Hoe by Various

The wall of the background is a pale moonlight blue, and the woman's figure stands out against a geographical map a little tinted with bistre, which hangs on the wall.

From The Standard Galleries - Holland by Singleton, Esther

A very singular drawing in pen and ink and bistre.

From The Dance of Death Exhibited in Elegant Engravings on Wood with a Dissertation on the Several Representations of that Subject but More Particularly on Those Ascribed to Macaber and Hans Holbein by Douce, Francis

Frontispiece-title by C. Apostool after Mortimer, and twenty-eight other plates, all in bistre.

From A Catalogue of Books in English Later than 1700 (Vol 2 of 3) Forming a portion of the library of Robert Hoe by Various

All the dark shadows in every part of the picture were done with a mixture of Prussian blue and bistre, and of these two colours there was consequently a vast consumption in Mr. Gummage's school.

From Pencil Sketches or, Outlines of Character and Manners by Leslie, Eliza