bronze
pronunciation
How to pronounce bronze in British English:
UK [brɒnz]
How to pronounce bronze in American English:
US [brɑːnz]
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- Noun:
- an alloy of copper and tin and sometimes other elements; also any copper-base alloy containing other elements in place of tin
- a sculpture made of bronze
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- Verb:
- give the color and appearance of bronze to something
- get a tan, from wind or sun
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- Adjective:
- of the color of bronze
- made from or consisting of bronze
Word Origin
- bronze
- bronze: [18] Until the 18th century, copper alloys were lumped together under the general term brass. Bronze seems originally to have been introduced as a specialist term for ancient artefacts made from the metal, but the modern distinction tends to be between brass (alloy of copper and zinc) and bronze (cooper and tin). The word comes via French from Italian bronzo, but its ultimate source is not clear.Perhaps the likeliest candidate is Persian birinj, pirinj ‘copper’, but it has also been speculated that it comes via medieval Greek brontésion from medieval Latin aes brundisium, literally ‘brass of Brindisi’, a port on the Adriatic coast of Italy where in antiquity bronze mirrors were made.
- bronze (n.)
- 1721, "alloy of copper and tin," from French bronze, from Italian bronzo, from Medieval Latin bronzium. Perhaps cognate (via notion of color) with Venetian bronza "glowing coals," or German brunst "fire." Perhaps influenced by Latin Brundisium the Italian town of Brindisi (Pliny writes of aes Brundusinum). Perhaps ultimately from Persian birinj "copper." In Middle English, the distinction between bronze (copper-tin alloy) and brass (copper-zinc alloy) was not clear, and both were called bras. A bronze medal was given to a third-place finisher since at least 1852. The archaeological Bronze Age (1865) falls between the Stone and Iron ages, and is a reference to the principal material for making weapons and ornaments.
- bronze (v.)
- 1640s, literally, 1726 figuratively, from French bronzer (16c.) or else from bronze (n.). Related: Bronzed; bronzing. Meaning "to make to be bronze in color" is from 1792.
Synonym
Example
- 1. Mr. reese 's bronze turkeys have a family tree .
- 2. First of all iron weapons not bronze ones .
- 3. You have the destruction completely of the mycenaean bronze age culture .
- 4. Forty-five centuries ago , the egyptians lacked iron or bronze tools .
- 5. An area indicates a bathroom with bronze washing basins and a stone toilet .