orpiment

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a yellow mineral occurring in conjunction with realgar; an ore of arsenic

From Middle English orpyment, from Old French orpiment, from Latin auripigmentum (“orpiment”), from aurum (“gold”) + pigmentum (“pigment”).

Now I remember comrades— Old playmates on new seas— Whenas we traded orpiment Among the savages. — Kim, Rudyard Kipling
* *name The first spirit Quicksilver called is; The second Orpiment; the third, y-wis, Sal-Armoniac, and the fourth Brimstone. — The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems, Geoffrey Chaucer
It was circular in form, carpeted with mats of shining straw, ceiled with beams, enriched with fleurs-de-lis of gilded metal with interjoists in color; wainscoated with rich woods sown with rosettes of white metal, and with others painted a fine, bright green, made of orpiment and fine indigo. — Notre-Dame de Paris, Victor Hugo

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