litharge

litharge [lith-ahrj, li-thahrj] ExamplesWord Origin noun

1. a yellowish or reddish, odorless, heavy, earthy, water-insoluble, poisonous solid, PbO, used chiefly in the manufacture of storage batteries, pottery, lead glass, paints, enamels, and inks.

Compare red lead. Origin of litharge 1350–1400; earlier litarge, litharge, Middle English litarge Middle French, apocopated variant of litargire Latin lithargyrus Greek lithárgyros spume of silver, equivalent to lith- lith- + árgyros silverAlso called lead monoxide, lead oxide, plumbous oxide. Examples from the Web for litharge Historical Examples of litharge

The heat ought never to be urged so far as to melt the litharge.

A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines

Andrew Ure

In the proportion of an ounce of litharge to a quart of oil.

Buenos Ayres and the Provinces of the Rio de La Plata

Woodbine Parish

The best solvents of litharge are nitric acid and acetic acid.

Cooley’s Practical Receipts, Volume II

Arnold Cooley

Other forms substitute an equal weight of litharge for the graphite.

Cooley’s Practical Receipts, Volume II

Arnold Cooley

It is manufactured in two forms, known as “massicot” and “litharge.”

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 3

Various

British Dictionary definitions for litharge litharge noun

1. another name for lead monoxide

Word Origin for litharge C14: via Old French from Latin lithargyrus, from Greek, from lithos stone + arguros silver