mordant

[mawr-dnt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mordant ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

sharply caustic or sarcastic, as wit or a speaker; biting.

burning; corrosive.

having the property of fixing colors, as in dyeing.

noun

a substance used in dyeing to fix the coloring matter, especially a metallic compound, as an oxide or hydroxide, that combines with the organic dye and forms an insoluble colored compound or lake in the fiber.

an adhesive substance for binding gold or silver leaf to a surface.

an acid or other corrosive substance used in etching to eat out the lines, areas, etc.

Music. mordent.

verb (used with object)

to impregnate or treat with a mordant.

Origin of mordant

1425–75; late Middle English < Middle French, present participle of mordre to bite ≪ Latin mordēre; see -ant

Related formsmor·dant·ly, adverbun·mor·dant, adjectiveun·mor·dant·ly, adverb

Synonyms for mordant

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mordant ON THESAURUS.COM

1. cutting, stinging, acerbic, scathing.

mordent

or mor·dant

[mawr-dnt]

noun Music.

a melodic embellishment consisting of a rapid alternation of a principal tone with the tone a half or a whole step below it, called single or short when the auxiliary tone occurs once and double or long when this occurs twice or more.

inverted mordent.

Origin of mordent

1800–10; < German < Italian mordente biting < Latin mordent-, stem of mordēns, present participle of mordēre to bite; see -ent

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for mordant

biting, caustic, scathing, acerbic, sardonic, sharp, cutting, acid, bitter, mean, cynical, disparaging, disrespectful, poignant, pointed, acerb

Examples from the Web for mordant

Contemporary Examples of mordant

Such seemingly effortless—and mordant—improvisation can be a marvel to behold.
The Stacks: Robin Williams, More Than A Shtick Figure
Joe Morgenstern
August 16, 2014
Mischievous, more bite than bark in the sense that it was mordant with minimal rhetoric, Heaney was not genteel.
Robert Pinsky: The Comedy of Seamus Heaney
Robert Pinsky
October 1, 2013
"Mordant" is the word I think I want to describe his conversation.
Robert Bork, RIP
David Frum
December 20, 2012
I like that the emotional lives of women are tinged with a kind of mordant humor for the most part.
Broadway's Comeback Kid
Kevin Sessums
November 2, 2011
Bradlee is, at times, funny, mordant, surprisingly perceptive and disturbingly naïve.
An Ordinary, Extraordinary Life
Barbara Kantrowitz
March 31, 2009

Historical Examples of mordant

What are the products of hydrolysis when stannic chloride is used as a mordant?
An Elementary Study of Chemistry
William McPherson
Tin is not so useful as a mordant in itself, but as a modifying agent with other mordants.
Vegetable Dyes
Ethel M. Mairet
Some mordant the wool first with alum, but it does not seem to need it.
Vegetable Dyes
Ethel M. Mairet
No mordant is needed, and the colours produced are the fastest known.
Vegetable Dyes
Ethel M. Mairet
It is one of the substantive colours and does not need any mordant.
Vegetable Dyes
Ethel M. Mairet

British Dictionary definitions for mordant

mordant

adjective

sarcastic or caustic

having the properties of a mordant

pungent

noun

a substance used before the application of a dye, possessing the ability to fix colours in textiles, leather, etcSee also lake 2 (def. 1)

an acid or other corrosive fluid used to etch lines on a printing plate

verb

(tr) to treat (a fabric, yarn, etc) with a mordant

Derived Formsmordancy, nounmordantly, adverb

Word Origin for mordant

C15: from Old French: biting, from mordre to bite, from Latin mordēre

mordent

noun

music a melodic ornament consisting of the rapid alternation of a note with a note one degree lower than itAlso called: lower mordent

Word Origin for mordent

C19: from German, from Italian mordente, from mordere to bite

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

Word Origin and History for mordant

adj.

late 15c., "caustic" (of words, speech), from Middle French mordant, literally "biting," present participle of mordre "to bite," from Latin mordere "to bite, bite into; nip, sting;" figuratively "to pain, cause hurt," perhaps from PIE root mer- (2) "to rub away, harm" (see smart (v.)). Related: Mordantly. The noun sense in dyeing is first recorded 1791; the adjective in this sense is from 1902. Related: Mordancy; mordantly.

mordant in Medicine

mordant

[môr′dnt]

adj.

Serving to fix colors in dyeing.

n.

A reagent, such as tannic acid, that fixes dyes to cells, tissues, or other materials.

v.

To treat with a mordant.