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.

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)

Various species of Lecanora, particularly L. tartarea, known as cudbear, are used in dyeing woollen yarn.

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

Dye with 8 per cent fustic, 2 per cent madder, 1 per cent cudbear, 2 per cent tartar.

From Vegetable Dyes Being a Book of Recipes and Other Information Useful to the Dyer by Mairet, Ethel M.