piceous

[pis-ee-uh s, pahy-see-uh s]

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adjective

of, relating to, or resembling pitch.

inflammable; combustible.

Zoology. black or nearly black as pitch.

Origin of piceous

1640–50; < Latin piceus made of pitch, equivalent to pice- (stem of pix) pitch² + -us adj. suffix; see -ous

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

Related Words for piceous

jet, slate, onyx, coal, sable, pitch, brunet, ebony, clouded, charcoal, sloe, obsidian, raven, jetty, dingy, dusky, livid, murky, shadowy, somber

Examples from the Web for piceous

Historical Examples of piceous

The labrum or upper-lip is fulvous; and the antenn are piceous.
An Introduction to Entomology: Vol. II (of 4)
William Kirby

British Dictionary definitions for piceous

piceous

adjective

of, relating to, or resembling pitch

Word Origin for piceous

C17: from Latin piceus, from pix pitch ²

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