word of the day: ormolu

The word of the day is ormolu:

noun

1. Also called mosaic gold. an alloy of copper and zinc used to imitate gold.

2. Also called bronze doré, gilt bronze. gilded metal, especially cast brass or bronze gilded over fire with an amalgam of gold and mercury, used for furniture mounts and ornamental objects.

3. gold or gold powder prepared for use in gilding.

 

Origin

< French or moulu ground gold, equivalent to or (< Latin aurum) + moulu, past participle of moudre to grind < Latin molere (dictionary.com)

"The previous week, another great Strad had gone unsold, at Christie's, despite considerable hype: the Kreutzer violin, part of the estate of Huguette Clark.  Sealed bids had also been invited for the Kreutzer, with an estimate of seven and a half million dollars.  The Carpenters had attended that auction, and had come away not with the Strad - it was overpriced, in their opinion, especially with the Christie's commission - but with an ormolu occasional table that had belonged to Clark, her rubber thimbles still in its inner compartments."

 - Rebecca Mead, "Musical gold: Can three ambitious siblings turn old violins into a new investment strategy?", 28 July 2014 The New Yorker