----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for March 23, 1999
----------------------------------------------------------------------
verdigris [n. VUR-dih-grees]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The statue of liberty is covered with verdigris, a coating of green
copper chloride and copper sulfate. That coating usually appears on
any bronze, brass or copper object that has been exposed to the
air for a long enough time. There's also a bluish green copper-based
paint pigment called verdigris.
In Old French it was called verte grez, a simplification of vert-de-
Grice (green of Greece). There is some mystery about the precise
original meaning of the word. Was it a green pigment originally
produced in Greece, and exported to France and other countries? How
did the word come to be applied to the greenish patina on weathered
copper-containing metal?
There is also another kind of green pigment made of copper carbonate,
which is called verditer [VUR-dih-ter], from the Old French verd de
terre (green of Earth).
The Latin viridis (green) was part of the origin of the Old French
word verd (green). The same root also gave us the modern English
words verdure (lush, green vegetation) and verdant (lushly green,
applied to plant life), plus an interesting medieval English word,
verdurer [VUR-der-er] (one who tends to the welfare of forests).
Today's sponsor: FREE WordCommand Vocabulary Software!
---------------- http://www.wordcommand.com/demo.htm -----------------
Boost your word power FAST with WordCommand Vocabulary Software. It's
easy with spoken pronunciations, screen savers, quizzes, flash cards,
and much more! Awarded ZD Net Editors' Pick. Click here for your
FREE trial copy: http://www.wordcommand.com/demo.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cool Word of the Day list membership: 69,883
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe, visit http://www.tlk-lists.com/join/
To unsubscribe, visit http://www.tlk-lists.com/change/
To become a sponsor, visit http://www.tlk-lists.com/sponsor/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 1999, The Learning Kingdom, Inc.
http://www.LearningKingdom.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
