Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A purplish-red dye derived from certain lichens.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A purple or violet powder, used in dyeing violet, purple, and crimson, prepared from various species of lichens, especially from Lecanora tartarea, which grows on rocks in northern Europe.
  • noun The plant Lecanora tartarea. Also called cudweed.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A powder of a violet red color, difficult to moisten with water, used for making violet or purple dye. It is prepared from certain species of lichen, especially Lecanora tartarea.
  • noun (Bot.) A lichen (Lecanora tartarea), from which the powder is obtained.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A violet-red powder, difficult to moisten with water, prepared from certain lichens, especially Lecanora tartarea, and used for making violet or purple dye.
  • noun botany A lichen (Lecanora tartarea), from which the powder is obtained.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a purplish dye obtained from orchil lichens

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[After Cuthbert, Gordon, 18th-century Scottish chemist.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Corrupted from the name of Dr. Cuthbert Gordon, a Scotsman, who first brought it into notice.

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