orichalcum

American  

[awr-i-kal-kuhm] / ˌɔr ɪˈkæl kəm /

noun

1. a brass rich in zinc, prepared by the ancients.

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Etymology

Origin of orichalcum

1640–50; < Latin < Greek oreíchalkos literally, mountain-copper, equivalent to orei-, combining form of óros mountain + chalkós copper

Example Sentences

The Latin orichalcum, for instance, is simply the Greek word ὀρείχαλκος, from ὄρος, mountain, and χαλκός, copper.

From Chips From A German Workshop. Vol. III. Essays on Literature, Biography, and Antiquities by Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)

About the Christian era the terms orichalcum or aurichalcum undoubtedly refer to brass, but whether these terms as used by earlier Greek writers do not refer to bronze only, is a matter of considerable doubt.

From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius

Himself the shining corselet, stiff with gold And orichalcum, on his shoulders laid.

From The Æneid of Virgil Translated into English Verse by E. Fairfax Taylor by Taylor, Edward Fairfax

In the interior of the temple the roof was of ivory, curiously wrought everywhere with gold and silver and orichalcum; and all the other parts, the walls and pillars and floor, they coated with orichalcum.

From Critias by Jowett, Benjamin

The outermost of the walls was coated with brass, the second with tin, and the third, which was the wall of the citadel, flashed with the red light of orichalcum.

From Critias by Jowett, Benjamin