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orichalcum

American  
[awr-i-kal-kuhm] / ˌɔr ɪˈkæl kəm /

noun

  1. a brass rich in zinc, prepared by the ancients.


Etymology

Origin of orichalcum

1640–50; < Latin < Greek oreíchalkos literally, mountain-copper, equivalent to orei-, combining form of óros mountain + chalkós copper

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The latter were inscribed on a column of orichalcum which was deposited in the centre of the island, in the temple of the god, where the ten kings originally assembled every fifth year.

From The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World Civilizations by Zelia Nuttall

These were inscribed by the first then on a column of orichalcum, which was situated in the middle of the island, at the Temple of Poseidon, whither the people were gathered together.

From Atlantis : the antediluvian world by Ignatius Donnelly

The outermost of the walls was coated with brass, the second with tin, and the third, which was the wall of the citadel, flashed with the red light of orichalcum.

From Critias by Benjamin Jowett

In the interior of the temple the roof was of ivory, curiously wrought everywhere with gold and silver and orichalcum; and all the other parts, the walls and pillars and floor, they coated with orichalcum.

From Critias by Benjamin Jowett

About the Christian era the terms orichalcum or aurichalcum undoubtedly refer to brass, but whether these terms as used by earlier Greek writers do not refer to bronze only, is a matter of considerable doubt.

From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Georgius Agricola

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