▪ I. turpentine, n.
(ˈtɜːpəntaɪn)
Forms: α. 5–6 terebentine, -yne (see also terebinthine); β. 4–5 terb-, 5 turbentyne; γ. 5–6 terpentin, turpentyne, 6 -tyn, 7 terpentine, 6– turpentine; δ. 5 turmyntyne, 6 termenteyne.
[In 14–15th c. terebentyne, terbentyne, a. OF. tere-, terbentine, ad. L. terbentina or terebinthina (rēsīna): see terebinthina, -ine. Already a 1400, OF. had tourbentine (in R. Estienne 1550, turbentine); so Eng. turbentyn and turpentine. The 15–16th c. variant termenteyne curiously approaches the earlier Gr. τερµινθίνη (ῥητίνη) terebinthine resin, turpentine.]
1. a. A term applied originally (as in Gr. and Lat.) to the semifluid resin of the terebinth tree, Pistacia Terebinthus (Chian or Cyprian turpentine); now chiefly to the various oleoresins which exude from coniferous trees, consisting of more or less viscid solutions of resin in a volatile oil.
| α [1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. clxiv. (Bodl. MS.) lf. 232/1 Therebintus..is a tre þat sweteþ rosine..and þe rosine þereof hatte Therebentina.] c 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 31 Putte to of terebentyne als moche as sufficeþ..moue it strongly wiþ a spature vnto þat þe terebentyne be dronken in. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Formul. X j b, Fomentacyon with oyle and terebentyne medled & warmed. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 42 b/2 Made of Oyle of Egges and of Venetiane Terebentine. |
| β 1322 in Wardr. Acc. 16 Edw. II 23/20 Terbentyn 7{supd} þe lb. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 51 A gome, þat men clepen Turbentyne. c 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 32 Terbentyne. 1460–70 Bk. Quintessence ii. 25 Wiþ frank-encense, mirre, and rosyn, terbentyn and rewe. |
| γ c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) vii. 26 A maner of gumme, þat es called Turpentyne. 1576 Baker Jewell of Health 128 Turpentine, which is a lycour dystilled and gotten of the Fyrre tree. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Térébinthine, turpentyne. 1601 Holland Pliny xv. xii. I. 465 In Syria they use to plucke the barke from the Terebinth, yea, and they pill the boughs and roots too for Terpentine. 1673 Grew Anat. Trunks i. ii. §18 Out of these Vessels all the clear Turpentine, that drops from the Tree, doth issue. 1718 Quincy Compl. Disp. 125 Common Turpentine..is procured from the Larch-Tree. 1813 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. iii. (1814) 97 When a portion of the bark is removed from a fir tree in Spring a matter exudes which is called turpentine. 1875 H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 131 Turpentine is remarkable for having the property of absorbing oxygen and converting it into ozone. |
| δ 1448–9 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 403, j lb et di. de Turmyntyne. 1502 Arnolde Chron. 35/2 Kark of termenteyne, xij d. |
b. With qualification, indicating different varieties. See
quot. 1831.
| 1577 Frampton Joyful News 45 Adde therto three Ounces of Venise Turpentine. 1634 Peacham Gentl. Exerc. i. xxvii. 98 Temper it with Spanish Turpentine. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. [Various kinds described.] 1744 Berkeley Siris §20 The Strasburgh turpentine..is procured from the knots of the silver fir. Ibid., Venice turpentine, which is got by piercing the larch tree. 1831 J. Davies Manual Mat. Med. 191 The principal kinds of turpentine are—the American Turpentine, furnished abundantly by the Pinus palustris, Lin., P. australis, Michaux, a tree growing principally in the southern states; the Common Turpentine, Terebinthina communis, obtained from the Pinus sylvestris and P. rubra, Lin.;..the Bordeaux Turpentine, Terebinthina picea, from the P. maritima, Lin., Bordeaux pine; the Strasbourg Turpentine, Terebinthina abietina, from the P. picea,..silver fir tree; the Venice Turpentine, Terebinthina laricea, from..P. larix, Lin., white larch; and..Canada or Fir Balsam, Terebinthina canadensis,..furnished by the P. balsamea, American silver fir. c 1865 Letheby in Circ. Sc. I. 106/1 The oleo-resin is imported into this country under the names of common turpentine, Bordeaux t..., Strasburg t..., and Venice t. |
c. pl. Varieties of turpentine.
| 1605 Timme Quersit. iii. 184 After one manner, hony,..after another, turpentines and gummes (as mastic, euphorb[i]um, styrax, and such like)..are to be distilled. 1718 Quincy Compl. Disp. 7 Of Turpentines, Gums, and all of that Tribe. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 432/1 As turpentines have a very disagreeable taste, it is customary to form them into pills or boluses. 1874 Garrod & Baxter Mat. Med. (1880) 366 Canada balsam resembles the other turpentines in its action, but it is not often given as a medicine. |
d. = oil of turpentine: see 3.
to talk turpentine (
colloq.), to discuss painting.
| 1876 J. S. Bristowe The. & Pract. Med. (1878) 607 Among the remedies..recommended [for scurvy] are perchloride of iron, acetate of lead, arsenic, digitalis, turpentine. 1891 Kipling Light that Failed vii. 118, I was told that all the world was interested in my work, and everybody at Kami's talked turpentine. |
2. † a. The fruit of the terebinth tree.
Obs. b. A terebinth tree;
= terebinthine B. 1,
turpentine tree 1. Also, any tree that yields turpentine, as the larch.
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 115 The fruite [of Sumach] is lyke vnto small clusters of grapes of the bignes of a turpentine. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 72 b, The cherie refuseth not the companie of the Peach, nor the Turpentine, nor they his. 1601 Chester Love's Mart. (N. Shaks. Soc.) 96 The Turpentine that sweet iuyce doth deplore. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 90 Cypresse trees and Turpentine, with divers others. 1885 ‘Wanderer’ Beauteous Terrorist 29 There 'mid giant turpentines Groups of climbing, clustering vines. 1898 Morris Austral Eng., Turpentine, Brush, name given to two trees—Metrosideros leptopetala,..and Rhodamnia trinervia,..both N.O. Myrtaceæ. |
3. oil of turpentine (also vulgarly known as
spirit of t.), a volatile oil, contained in the wood, bark, leaves, and other parts of coniferous trees, and usually prepared by distilling crude turpentine. There are many varieties according to the source, which, though all having the same formula, C
10H
16, vary in their physical and, more especially, their optical properties.
| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 30/2 Hott oyle of Terpentin. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xxiv. 188 Common Oyl or Spirit (for in the Shops..the same Liquor is promiscuously call'd by either name) of Turpentine. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Turpentine, What is commonly sold under the name of Oil of Turpentine, or Etherial Oil, is only a Distillation of the Rosin called Galipot, fresh from the Tree. 1791 Hamilton tr. Berthollet's Dyeing I. i. i. i. 6 The oil of turpentine..has a considerable refracting power. 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 208 The rectified oil, improperly called Spirit of turpentine, is now most commonly employed. Its great use among house painters, under the cant name of ‘turps’, is to thin and assist the drying of oil paints. 1875 H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 501 Oil of turpentine is never employed to increase the flow of urine. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
turpentine ball,
turpentine business,
turpentine clyster,
turpentine distiller,
turpentine epithem,
turpentine fomentation,
turpentine liniment,
turpentine odour,
turpentine pill,
turpentine smell,
turpentine stupe,
turpentine varnish; ‘pertaining to the production of turpentine or the cultivation of turpentine trees’, as
turpentine camp,
turpentine district,
turpentine farm,
turpentine farmer,
turpentine orchard,
turpentine region,
turpentine wood; instrumental, as
turpentine-anointed,
turpentine-filled adjs.;
turpentine bucket: see
quot.;
turpentine camphor, a name sometimes given to the solid mono-hydrochlorate, sometimes to the solid hydrates of turpentine oil;
turpentine gall-nut, an excrescence formed on the branches of the terebinth-tree by the puncture of an insect;
turpentine gum, American
thus (
n.) (
Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1909);
turpentine hack, a tool for hacking the bark of pine trees, to cause the turpentine to exude (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1877);
turpentine moth, any of several leaf-roller moths of the family Tortricidæ of which the larvæ bore into the twigs of conifers (
Cent. Dict. 1891);
turpentine oil = oil of turpentine;
turpentine ointment, an ointment of which turpentine oil is a principal ingredient (
ibid.);
† turpentine rod, a rod of a terebinth tree;
turpentine shrub, a name of the Prairie Burdock,
Silphium terebinthinaceum, a tall herbaceous plant with bright yellow flowers, a native of North America cultivated in European gardens since 1765 (
Cassell's Encycl. Dict. 1888);
Turpentine State (
U.S.): see
quot. 1859;
turpentine still, an apparatus for distilling turpentine from pine wood or spirit from turpentine (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1877);
turpentine vessel, in a coniferous tree, one of the tubes formed in the interstices of tissue, into which turpentine or like secretion naturally drains during the growth of the plant;
turpentine weed = turpentine shrub; also, any of several other herbs containing an aromatic sap. See also
turpentine tree.
| 1861 Knight Pop. Hist. Eng. VII. xvii. 309 Robespierre..sets fire to the *turpentine-anointed images. |
| 1844 A. Page Suppl. to Kirby's Suffolk Trav. 141 A *turpentine ball..which they set on fire. |
| 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Turpentine-bucket, a cup or vessel to catch crude turpentine as it exudes from the tree. |
| 1856 Olmsted Slave States 338 There are very large forests of [Pinus Palustris] in North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama; and the *turpentine business is carried on..in all these States. |
| 1901 Westm. Gaz. 16 Mar. 4/1 A *turpentine camp in Baldwin County, Alabama. |
| 1857 Miller Elem. Chem. III. 452 *Turpentine camphor..(C20H16, 4HO). |
| 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. iii. viii. (1713) 708/2 Enema Terebinthinatum, A *Turpentine Clyster. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Turpentine and Tar Distiller, a refiner of these substances. |
| 1901 Westm. Gaz. 4 May 5/2 The *turpentine district along the St. John's River has been completely wiped out. |
| 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. x. 107 note, A warm *turpentine epithem should be placed upon this region. |
| 1867 H. Latham Black & White 124 The paths which lead among the *turpentine farms. |
| 1856 Olmsted Slave States 350 The majority of what I have termed *turpentine-farmers—..the small proprietors of the long-leafed pine forest land. |
| 1887 Fenn Dick o' the Fens ii, They were the roots of *turpentine-filled pines. |
| 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 319 Great tenderness over the lower half of the abdomen. *Turpentine fomentations were applied. |
| 1860 Mayne Expos. Lex., *Turpentine Liniment,..a preparation..of yellow basilicon ointment diluted with turpentine. |
| 1842 T. W. Harris Insects Injurious to Vegetation 350 *Turpentine-moths..injure pines and firs. |
| 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 127 A copious flow of limpid oil of a pungent *turpentine odour. |
| 1868 Watts Dict. Chem. V. 920 The diversities of character exhibited by *turpentine-oils..relate chiefly to the specific gravity, boiling-point, and optical rotatory power. |
| 1884 C. S. Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 518 Their owners oftener..employing them [negroes in N. Carolina] in *turpentine orchards than in the cotton-fields. |
| 1622 Dekker & Massinger Virgin Mart. iii. Wks. 1873 IV. 52 One gave me *turpentine pils. |
| 1856 Olmsted Slave States 325, I was now..in the *Turpentine region of North Carolina. |
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. (1906) 230 A *Turpentine rod brought from Jordan and given to King James. |
| 1887 C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Afr. 372 The plant has a strong *turpentine smell. |
| 1850 Mayne Reid Rifle Rangers I. v. 46 The danger is, we may stick in the *Turpentine State. 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer., Turpentine State, the State of North Carolina, so called from the quantity of turpentine obtained from its pine forests. |
| 1799 Wilmington (N. Carolina) Gaz. 12 Dec. 2/1 Will be sold..at Public Sale... Two *turpentine stills. 1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. iv. 86 One woman had killed five [men] when I left that turpentine still where she lived. |
| 1877 Roberts Handbk. Med. (ed. 3) I. 130 Occasionally *turpentine-stupes or sinapisms are needed in order to give relief. |
| 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 791 It dries as well as any other *turpentine-varnish, and when dry it appears to be as durable as any other solution of copal. 1868 Watts Dict. Chem. V. 925 Turpentine-varnishes, solutions of resins in oil of turpentine. |
| 1673–4 Grew Anat. Trunks i. ii. §20 The..*Turpentine-Vessels of Pine are likewise remarkably bigger..than the Milk-Vessels themselves. 1861 Bentley Man. Bot. 55 In the Coniferæ they..have..been termed turpentine vessels. |
| 1819 Western Rev. I. 95 Among the most remarkable and singular [plants of Kentucky is]..Silphium therebinthaceum, *Turpentine weed. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1059/1 The plant [Silphium laciniatum] is also known as the..Turpentine-weed. 1885 F. Whymper in Girl's Own Paper Jan. 171/1 The compass plant—..known, also, as the..turpentine weed—is a vigorous perennial. 1913 W. C. Barnes Western Grazing Grounds 236 There is a little green weed (Gutierrezia) known locally as snakeweed, fireweed, turpentine weed. 1931 G. H. Vansell Nectar & Pollen Plants Calif. 14 Turpentine weed..is also visited freely by bees for nectar. |
| 1890 Philadelphia Inquirer 1 June 1/4 He would find there every interest and every occupation of the period fully depicted, from the forests of Maine to the *turpentine woods of North Carolina. 1892 Pall Mall G. 15 Nov. 2/3 The Florida convicts..were mostly put to work in the turpentine woods. |
▪ II. ˈturpentine, v. [f. prec. n.] trans. To treat, rub, or smear with turpentine or turpentine oil. Hence
ˈturpentined ppl. a. So
ˈturpentining vbl. n., the process of obtaining crude turpentine from living pine-trees (
Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1909).
| 1759 N. Jersey Archives XX. 374 Stolen..A Battoe..painted with Spanish Brown in the Inside, and the Outsides turpentined. 1789 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Subj. for Painters 110 Fir'd like turpentin'd poor roasting rats. 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz, Old Lady, The table-covers are never taken off, except when the leaves are turpentined and bees'-waxed. 1893 Spons' Mechanics' Own Bk. (ed. 4) 433 Put in others with the second marbling colour, also on a turpentined feather. 1910 C. Van Hise Conservation Natural Resources of U.S. iii. 229 (heading) Reduction of loss in turpentining. 1971 Forest Products Jrnl. Feb. 53/2 The Southeastern Forest Experiment Station conducted a..study to determine the effect of turpentining on..yields of butt peeler blocks. |