MORDANT


Meaning of MORDANT in English

adj. & n.

adj. 1 (of sarcasm etc.) caustic, biting. 2 pungent, smarting. 3 corrosive or cleansing. 4 (of a substance) serving to fix colouring-matter or gold leaf on another substance.

n. a mordant substance (in senses 3, 4 of adj.). mordancy n. mordantly adv.

[ ME f. F, part. of mordre bite f. L mordere ]

Concise Oxford English dictionary.      Краткий оксфордский словарь английского языка.