Adjacent Words

terra alba definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: finely pulverized gypsum used especially as a pigment
2: fine white clay used in making tobacco pipes and pottery and in whitening leather [syn: pipeclay, terra alba]
3: a fine usually white clay formed by the weathering of aluminous minerals (as feldspar); used in ceramics and as an absorbent and as a filler (e.g., in paper) [syn: china clay, china stone, kaolin, kaoline, porcelain clay, terra alba]

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a white mineral, esp. pipeclay or pulverized gypsum. Etymology: L, = white earth

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Terra Ter"ra, n. [It. & L. See Terrace.] The earth; earth. Terra alba [L., white earth] (Com.), a white amorphous earthy substance consisting of burnt gypsum, aluminium silicate (kaolin), or some similar ingredient, as magnesia. It is sometimes used to adulterate certain foods, spices, candies, paints, etc. Terra cotta. [It., fr. terra earth + cotta, fem. of cotto cooked, L. coctus, p. p. of coquere to cook. See Cook, n.] Baked clay; a kind of hard pottery used for statues, architectural decorations, figures, vases, and the like. Terr[ae] filius [L., son of the earth], formerly, one appointed to write a satirical Latin poem at the public acts in the University of Oxford; -- not unlike the prevaricator at Cambridge, England. Terra firma [L.], firm or solid earth, as opposed to water. Terra Japonica. [NL.] Same as Gambier. It was formerly supposed to be a kind of earth from Japan. Terra Lemnia [L., Lemnian earth], Lemnian earth. See under Lemnian. Terra ponderosa [L., ponderous earth] (Min.), barite, or heavy spar. Terra di Sienna. See Sienna.