speculum metal

noun

any of several bronze alloys with a high tin content, often containing other materials, as silver, brass, lead, zinc, or arsenic, used for making mirrors and reflectors.

Origin of speculum metal

First recorded in 1790–1800

Also called speculum, speculum alloy.

Words Nearby speculum metal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use speculum metal in a sentence

Mr. Edwards, in the Nautical Almanack for 1787, gave the following instructions for making speculum metal.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines | Andrew Ure
They are made of speculum metal, of various forms and sizes, but always portable.
Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions Including Trick Photography | Albert A. Hopkins
Bell-metal, gun-metal, and speculum-metal are mere varieties of bronze.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I | Arnold Cooley
The specula are made of speculum metal, which is a composition of certain proportions of copper and tin.
Popular Technology; Volume 2 | Edward Hazen
Furnaces for the speculum metal were built, stands erected, and the 40-foot telescope fairly begun.
Pioneers of Science | Oliver Lodge

British Dictionary definitions for speculum metal

speculum metal

noun

a white hard brittle corrosion-resistant alloy of copper (55–70 per cent) and tin with smaller amounts of other metals. It takes a high polish and is used for mirrors, lamp reflectors, ornamental ware, etc

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

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