orchell

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French orchel, orseil, from Old Catalan orxella (influenced by dialectal Arabic [script needed] ('urjālla)), from Italian oricello, Latin ōricilla, diminutive of ōricula (variant of auricula), both diminutives of auris (“ear”)) + illa (a double diminutive suffix) or from auris (“ear”) + cula + illa. The name of the dye was influenced by the visual resemblance of the lichen used in production to a small ear.

Noun

orchell (uncountable)

  1. A violet or red dye obtained from certain lichens; archil.
  2. The lichen used to produce this dye.

Descendants

  • English: orchil
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.