copperas

[ kop-er-uhs ]

/ ˈkɒp ər əs /

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noun Chemistry.

ferrous sulfate.

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Origin of copperas

1400–50; late Middle English coperas, variant of Middle English coperose<Medieval Latin (aqua) cuprōsa copperish (water). See copper¹, -ose¹

Words nearby copperas

copper, Copper Age, copperah, Copper and Stone Age, copper arsenite, copperas, Copperas Cove, copper beech, Copper Belt, copper-bottomed, copper-fasten

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use copperas in a sentence

Logwood dyes lilac, or pink; to turn red hackles brown, boil them in copperas.
The Teesdale Angler|R Lakeland
Copper dissolved in the vitriolic acid forms crystals of a blot colour, called blue copperas.
Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry|Joseph Priestley
Boil the logwood for 30 minutes in a gallon of water, and then add the copperas and lampblack.
Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians|William K. David
The hypo., when thus affected with the copperas, appears also to throw a mist over the picture, which new hypo.
Notes and Queries, Number 190, June 18, 1853|Various

When such is the case, only about 1⁄6 or 1⁄7th of their weight of copperas should be employed.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley

British Dictionary definitions for copperas

copperas

/ (ˈkɒpərəs) /

noun

a less common name for ferrous sulphate

Word Origin for copperas

C14: coperose, via Old French from Medieval Latin cuperosa, perhaps originally in the phrase aqua cuprosa copper water

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012