orchil

• On some of the rugged masses of masonry grew large hoary tufts of the strange roccella or orchil-weed, which yields the famous purple dye--with which, in all likelihood, the robes of the Cćsars were coloured--and which gave wealth, rank, and name to one princely Italian family, the Rucellai. —  Roman Mosaics Or, Studies in Rome and Its Neighbourhood
• The Rocella tinctoria and fusiformis furnish the orchil, or orchilla weed of commerce, which is sometimes sold as a moist pulp, but usually in the form of dry cakes, known under the name of litmus_; it produces a fine purple color. —  The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise ; Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, ;c.; of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, ;c;.
• For instance, in Rocella tinctoria_, which has, of all the dye-Lichens, been most frequently selected for analytical investigation, on account of its important product orchil, the discrepancies between the results obtained are very striking. —  The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise ; Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, ;c.; of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, ;c;.
• He found that such fugitive colors as orchil, safflower, and indigo-carmine fade very rapidly in moist air, less rapidly in dry air, and that they experience little or no change in hydrogen or in a vacuum. —  Scientific American Supplement, No. 810, July 11, 1891
• The first group comprises madder, cochineal, orchil, alkanet, and murexide. —  Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882

Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the Same Context