orpiment

American  

[awr-puh-muhnt] / ˈɔr pə mənt /

noun

1. a mineral, arsenic trisulfide, As 2 S 3 , found usually in soft, yellow, foliated masses, used as a pigment.

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orpiment British  

/ ˈɔːpɪmənt /

noun

1. a yellow mineral consisting of arsenic trisulphide in monoclinic crystalline form occurring in association with realgar: it is an ore of arsenic. Formula: As 2 S 3

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Etymology

Origin of orpiment

1350–1400; Middle English < Old French < Latin auripigmentum pigment of gold; see auri- ¹, pigment

Example Sentences

To Orpiment I added by little and little a certain full bright purple, which Painters use, until the Orpiment ceased to be yellow, and became of a pale red.

From Opticks or, a Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections, and Colours of Light by Newton, Isaac, Sir

Orpiment, which was so much in use in Sir Joshua's time, the ill effects of which is visible in the President's "Holy Family" in our National Gallery, was no great favourite in the olden time.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 357, June, 1845 by Various

Orpiment and realgar are the yellow and red arsenical sulphides.

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

Orpiment is the true arsenicum of the ancients.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 2 Amiel to Atrauli by Various

Orpiment, which is termed ἁρσενικὁν in Greek, is dug up in Pontus.

From The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio