sepia

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A dark brown ink or pigment originally prepared from the secretion of the cuttlefish.
2. n. A drawing or picture done in this pigment.
3. n. A photograph in a brown tint.
4. n. A dark grayish yellow brown to dark or moderate olive brown.
5. adj. Of the color sepia.
6. adj. Done or made in sepia.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A black secretion or ink produced by the cuttlefish; also, in the arts, a pigment prepared from this substance. The Sepia officinalis, common in the Mediterranean, is chiefly sought for the profusion of color which it affords. This secretion, which is insoluble in water, but extremely diffusible through it, is agitated in water to wash it, and then allowed slowly to subside, after which the water is poured off, and the black sediment is formed into cakes or sticks. In this form it is used as a common writing-ink in China, Japan, and India. When prepared with caustic lye it forms a beautiful brown color, with a fine grain, and has given name to a species of monochrome drawing extensively cultivated. See cuts under Dibranchiata, inkbag, belemnite, and Belemnitidæ .
2. n. [capitalized] [NL.] A genus of cuttles, typical of the family Scpiidæ, and containing such species, as the common or officinal cuttle, S. officinalis. See also cuts under cuttlefish, Dibranchiata, and ink-bag.
3. n. A cuttlefish.
4. n. Cuttlebone: more fully called os sepiæ. It is an antacid, used in dentifrices, and given to canaries. See os and sepiost.

Wiktionary

1. n. The cuttlefish.
2. n. A dark brown pigment made from the secretions of the cuttlefish.
3. n. A dark, slightly reddish, brown colour.
4. n. A sepia-coloured drawing or photograph.
5. adj. Of a dark reddish-brown colour.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The common European cuttlefish.
2. n. A genus comprising the common cuttlefish and numerous similar species. See Illustr. under cuttlefish.
3. n. A pigment prepared from the ink, or black secretion, of the sepia, or cuttlefish. Treated with caustic potash, it has a rich brown color; and this mixed with a red forms Roman sepia. Cf. India ink, under India.
4. adj. Of a dark brown color, with a little red in its composition; also, made of, or done in, sepia.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. type genus of the Sepiidae
2. n. rich brown pigment prepared from the ink of cuttlefishes
3. n. a shade of brown with a tinge of red