cudbear

American  

[kuhd-bair] / ˈkʌdˌbɛər /

noun

1. a violet coloring matter obtained from various lichens, especially Lecanora tartarea.

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cudbear British  

/ ˈkʌdˌbɛə /

noun

1. another name for orchil

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Etymology

Origin of cudbear

First recorded in 1760–70; coinage by Dr. Cuthbert Gordon, 18th-century Scottish chemist, based on his own name

Example Sentences

About 130 tons of cudbear are imported annually from Sweden.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.

If the red color of the wool is due to archil or cudbear, it is extracted by hydrochloric acid, which is colored red.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 385, May 19, 1883 by Various

Purple:—For each pound of goods, two ounces of cudbear; rinse the goods well in soap-suds, then dissolve cudbear in hot suds—not quite boiling, and soak the goods until of required color.

From The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) Cooking, Toilet and Household Recipes, Menus, Dinner-Giving, Table Etiquette, Care of the Sick, Health Suggestions, Facts Worth Knowing, Etc., Etc. The Whole Comprising a Comprehensive Cyclopedia of Information for the Home by Gillette, F. L. (Fanny Lemira)

Specimens of varieties of the lichens used in the manufacture of cudbear, orchil and litmus, and of the substance obtained, were also shown in the British department, which were awarded prize medals.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.

The lichens thus treated acquire gradually a deep purple colour, and form the products called "cudbear."

From The Chemistry of Hat Manufacturing Lectures Delivered Before the Hat Manufacturers' Association by Shonk, Albert