ormolu

/ˈɔː(ɹ)məˌluː/

Etymology

From French or moulu (literally “ground gold”).

ormolu means Made from golden or gilded brass or bronze. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 94 out of 100.

Why this word is great

ORMOLU — [Adjective] Made from or resembling gilded brass or bronze, used especially for decorative mountings. From French *or moulu*, literally "ground gold", from *or* ("gold", from Latin *aurum*) + *moulu*, past participle of *moudre* ("to grind", from Latin *molere*). Unlike "vermeil," which dignifies silver with a gold veneer, or "gilt," a term for any surface washed in gold’s likeness, ormolu denotes a specific, hazardous alchemy: the fire-gilding of bronze with a gold-mercury amalgam. It is the cold, precise scrollwork on a Louis XV commode, the flicker of candlelight in chased Rococo leaves, and the heavy, luminous claw feet of a mahogany desk. This is luxury with a lethal recipe, a splendor born of grinding and poison, forever holding its radiant, false promise against the encroaching dark.

adj

Made from golden or gilded brass or bronze.“At one of the ormolu tables, near a lamp with a pink shade, Gaston insisted on making at least a partial statement.”

noun

Golden or gilded brass or bronze used for decorative purposes.“Had he deemed it "wisest, best," Mr. O'Donagough was not without the means of furnishing a splendid mansion in very showy style, and yet not leaving a single morsel of lacker, or or-molu, unpaid for.”

verb

To decorate with gilded ormolu articles.“But I have seen apartments in the tenure of Americans—men of exceedingly moderate means yet rara aves of good taste—which, in negative merit at least, might vie with any of the or-molued cabinets of our friends across the water.”