Note 309 – The word verdigris

Image via Wikipedia (Author: Richard Webb)

My dad plays the trumpet and in one of his music books it told him about a substance called verdigris which can form in trumpets or any brass instruments. This image found on Wikipedia (author Richard Webb) shows this green pigment caused by the corrosion of the copper in the bronze. You may also have seen it on old coins. As I like learning the origin and meaning of words, I decided to do a bit of googling to find out more about it.

According to Wikipedia, verdigris is “the common name for a green pigment” that is found on things like copper and brass.  Dictionary.com explain that verdigris originates from ‘vert de gris’ (Middle French 1250–1300).

Maremag.blogspot.com has written a blog about this word and explain that corrosion occurs when the surface is exposed to the atmosphere for long periods of time.  They give Dictionary.com’s description of verdigris which is “a green or bluish patina formed on copper, brass, or bronze surfaces exposed to the atmosphere for long periods of time, consisting principally of basic copper sulfate* “.

(*Note: As I was unsure if the spelling of sulfate was correct in the previous sentence, tomorrow’s blog will be about sulfate v sulphate)

That’s all for today

Until tomorrow…

Sandra
http://www.sandramadeira.com

Related articles

• V is for verdigris (maremag.blogspot.com)