verdigris
Americannoun
noun
-
a green or bluish patina formed on copper, brass, or bronze and consisting of a basic salt of copper containing both copper oxide and a copper salt
-
a green or blue crystalline substance obtained by the action of acetic acid on copper and used as a fungicide and pigment; basic copper acetate
Other Word Forms
- verdigrisy adjective
Etymology
Origin of verdigris
1250–1300; < Middle French vert de gris; replacing Middle English vertegrez < Anglo-French vert de Grece, Old French vere grez green of Greece
Explanation
Verdigris is the blue-green tarnish on certain metals after they are left outside for a long period of time. A lot of churches have rooftops coated with verdigris, and many capitol buildings have verdigris on their domes. Bronze, brass, and copper metals get verdigris because of exposure to air and wetness, especially saltwater. The Old French origin of verdigris literally translates to "green of Greece," which can help you remember how to pronounce the word: VURR-de-Greece. The word is a noun that refers to the actual layer of green pigment that coats a surface. It’s a handsome color, and many painters use verdigris when they want a sea-foam look.
Vocabulary lists containing verdigris
Green
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The Namesake
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The Road
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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.
Still, the show had some great one-off moments - including one from model, Gigi Hadid, who closed the show in a verdigris pant-look speckled with matching diaphanous embroidered feathers.
From Washington Times • Jun. 21, 2019
They came to the verdigris lions and the large concrete letters: Z-O-O.
From The New Yorker • May 30, 2016
We could see the verdigris bronze statue of Bosch in the city square, and two of the three houses where he once lived.
From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2016
Setting aside the seductive idea of a plantimal suddenly brings into focus other explanations for the slugs’ verdigris.
From Scientific American • Dec. 16, 2013
In a belle époque metal frame tinged with verdigris was a photograph of his parents, Grace and Ernest, three days after their wedding.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
