mordant

mordant

English

Etymology

From French mordant, from Latin mordeō. Doublet of mordent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔː(ɹ)dənt/

  • Audio (RP)

    (file)

• Homophone: mordent

Adjective

mordant (comparative more mordant, superlative most mordant)

1. Having or showing a sharp or critical quality

   Synonyms: biting, caustic, sarcastic, keen, severe

2. Serving to fix a dye to a fibre.

Related terms

• morsel
• remorse

Translations

biting or caustic

Bulgarian: язвителен (bg) (jazvitelen) Finnish: pureva (fi), julma (fi), pisteliäs (fi) German: beißend (de), bissig (de), sarkastisch (de) Greek: δηκτικός (el) m (diktikós), καυστικός (el) m (kafstikós) Italian: mordente (it), caustico (it), sarcastico (it), mordace (it) Korean: 신랄한 (sillalhan) Polish: żrący (pl) Spanish: mordaz (es)

Noun

mordant (countable and uncountable, plural mordants)

1. Any substance used to facilitate the fixing of a dye to a fibre; usually a metallic compound which reacts with the dye using chelation.
   • 1964, L.F. Salzman, English Industries of the Middle Ages, page 208:

     In dyeing two mediums are required, the colouring matter and the mordant which fixes the dye in the wool.

2. Any corrosive substance used in etching.
3. A glutinous size used as a ground for gilding, to make the gold leaf adhere.

Synonyms

• (substance for etching): etchant

Translations

a substance used to facilitate dye fixing

Bulgarian: байц (bg) m (bajc) Catalan: mordent (ca) m Finnish: puretin German: Beize (de) f Gujarati: રંગરખું (raṅgarkhũ) Italian: mordente (it) m Korean: 매염제 (maeyeomje) Maori: waitumu, tūmau kano Serbo-Croatian: močilo (sh) n Spanish: mordiente, mordaz (es)

Verb

mordant (third-person singular simple present mordants, present participle mordanting, simple past and past participle mordanted)

1. (transitive) To subject to the action of, or imbue with, a mordant.

   Mordant these goods for dyeing.

Translations

to subject to a mordant

Bulgarian: байцвам (bg) (bajcvam) Catalan: mordentar (ca) Finnish: purettaa French: amordancer (fr) Italian: mordenzare (it)

See also

• mordant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• mordent

Anagrams

• dormant

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French

Participle

mordant

1. present participle of mordre

Adjective

mordant (feminine mordante, masculine plural mordants, feminine plural mordantes)

1. biting, sharp, acrid
2. mordant
3. corrosive

Further reading

• “mordant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• dormant

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Romanian

Etymology

From French mordant.

Adjective

mordant m or n (feminine singular mordantă, masculine plural mordanți, feminine and neuter plural mordante)

1. mordant

Declension

Declension of mordant

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	mordant		mordantă	mordanți	mordante
	definite	mordantul		mordanta	mordanții	mordantele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	mordant		mordante	mordanți	mordante
	definite	mordantului		mordantei	mordanților	mordantelor