zaffre means cobalt oxide obtained by roasting cobalt ore, used as a blue pigment. It carries an Arena rating of 1688, earned across 8 head-to-head judged battles.
zaffre is pronounced /ˈzæfə(ɹ)/.
Why “zaffre” is a great word
A deep, smoky blue pigment historically produced by roasting cobalt ore, descending from Italian zaffera, itself from Latin sapphirus ("sapphire")—a borrowed luster for a manufactured stone. Unlike the synthetic, chemical purity of cobalt blue or the lapis-derived, celestial clarity of ultramarine, zaffre is an impure, earthly oxide, the product of fire and alchemy. It is the shadowed blue of a dusk sky seen through bottle-glass, the cool stain on a porcelain glaze, and the faded hue of a medieval manuscript's initial letter—the color of distance made solid, a captured breath of twilight.
Etymology
From Italian zaffera, from Latin sapphirus (“sapphire”). Doublet of sapphire.
noun
- Cobalt oxide obtained by roasting cobalt ore, used as a blue pigment.“If Zaffre or Regulus of Cobalt be dissolved in the same manner in spirit of nitre, or aqua fortis, a reddish colour is produced on exposing the paper to heat.”
- A cobalt blue colour, like that of the pigment.