resinous, a.
(ˈrɛzɪnəs)
[ad. L. rēsīnōs-us: see resin n. and -ous. So F. résineux, Sp., Pg., and It. resinoso.]
1. Of the nature of resin.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 51 As all resinous bodies, Turpentine, Pitch, and Frankincense. 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1699) 229/1 This Tincture is only the resinous Parts of the Balsam dissolv'd in the Spirit of Wine. 1791 Hamilton Berthollet's Dyeing I. i. i. i. 15 It has been proposed to divide the colouring particles into extractive and resinous. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 288 Sulphuric acid..dissolves the corydalina, and leaves the green resinous matter. 1878 A. H. Green, etc. Coal i. 21 The resinous character also prevents the spores from being wetted.., and tends to preserve them from decay. |
2. Of plants or their parts: Containing resin.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., Resinous, full of rozen or gum. 1673–4 Grew Anat. Pl., Anat. Trunks (1684) 110 The Barque of Oak it self is also somewhat Resinous. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 146 The Fruit..more resinous, and falls easily when ripe. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 692/2 Made of the most porous and resinous wood to be found. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 35 The root is biennial, thick, fleshy, and resinous. 1858 Carpenter Veg. Phys. §51 A peculiar form of woody fibre is found in the stems of resinous woods. |
3. Of properties, etc.: Properly belonging to, or characteristic of, resin.
| 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 217 It is in brittle fragments of an almost black colour, having a shining, resinous fracture. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 550 Has a resinous and aromatic smell. 1884 Mrs. C. Praed Zero xiii, The atmosphere was pungent with a resinous odour. |
4. Made or compounded of resin; affected or produced by the burning of resin.
| 1808 S. Young in Med. Jrnl. XIX. 567 A convenient slip of firm linen, uniformly covered by a resinous plaster. 1862 Dickens Uncomm. Trav. xxviii, I can smell the heavy resinous incense as I pass the church. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. ii. iii. 140 The resinous atmosphere Gives hint of pitch. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) I. iv. 122 The resinous fumes slowly diminished. |
5. Electr. = negative a. 7. Now Obs.
| 1742 J. T. Desaguliers Diss. Electr. 41 The Air being electrical of a vitreous Electricity, and sulphur of a resinous Electricity. 1756 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. XLIX. 152 Some writers on electricity have said, that there were two kinds of electrical fire, the one resinous, and the other vitreous. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VI. 421/2 Mr. Du Fay discovered the difference between positive and negative, or, as they were for some time called, the vitreous and resinous electricities. 1840 Carlyle Heroes (1858) 198 Thunder was not then mere Electricity, vitreous or resinous. 1860 Emerson Cond. Life, Wealth, The genius of reading and of gardening are antagonistic, like resinous and vitreous electricity. 1885 Watson & Burbury Math. The. Electr. & Magn. I. 94 A superficial electrification on the inner surface, the total amount of which will be resinous. |
6. Comb., as resinous-like, resinous-looking adjs.
| 1807 T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 449 It converts the drying oils into a yellow resinous-like mass. 1832 Brewster Nat. Magic xiii. 339 The dense fluid..quickly hardens into a transparent and yellowish resinous-looking substance. |
Hence ˈresinously adv., (a) with ‘resinous’ electricity; (b) with an impregnation of resin. Also ˈresinousness, ‘resinous or rosiny quality’ (Bailey, vol. II. 1727).
| 1794 G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Phil. IV. xlvi. 264 Bodies electrified resinously repel each other. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 53 Shrubs with alternate, toothed, resinously glandular, exstipulate leaves. 1873 Maxwell Electr. & Magn. (1881) I. 32 All electrified bodies are found to be either vitreously or resinously electrified. |