electrum
(ɪˈlɛktrəm)
[a. L. ēlectrum, ad. Gr. ἤλεκτρον, in same senses. See also electre.]
† 1. Amber. Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxxi. (1495) 683 Of the pyne appyll tree cometh droppyng and woosynge whyche is made harde..and soo tornyth in to a precyous stone that hyghte Electrum. 1602 Metamorph. Tobacco (Collier) 17 Eridanus his pearl'd Electrum gaue. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. II. 58 These fishes..are unable to attract, or to repel the lightest substances, which even the electrum can affect. |
† b. fig. of tears. Obs.
| 1591 Greene Maidens Dreame v. 4 It was her masters death That drew electrum from her weeping eyes. |
2. a. An alloy of silver and gold (of pale yellow colour) in use among the ancients; = electre 1. Also attrib. b. Min. Native argentiferous gold containing from 20 to 50 per cent of silver.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. xxxvii. (1495) 565 Electrum is a metall..it shyneth more clere than gold or syluer. 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. i. iv. (Arb.) 83 marg. note, Electrum is a metall naturally mixt of one portion of golde & an other of siluer. 1626 Bacon Sylva §798 The Ancient Electrum had in it a fifth of Silver to the Gold. 1674 Earl of Sandwich tr. Barba's Art Metals (1740) 72 Electrum..which is a natural mixture of Gold and Silver. 1868 Dana Min. (1880) 5 A mass of electrum..consisting of large crystals, containing 25 p.c. of silver. 1876 Humphreys Coin Coll. Man. xvi. 186 The coins of Lydia were frequently of electrum. |
3. An alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel.
| 1875 Ure Dict. Arts ii. 252 A base metal in modern use has received the name of electrum. It is an alloy of copper, zinc, and tin, with sometimes nickel. |