‖ ˈcaput ˈmortuum
[L.; = dead head.]
† 1. A death's head, a skull. Obs.
| 1658 R. Franck North. Mem. (1821) 153 Fancying..he lived now in his grave, and every object a Caput Mortuum. |
2. Alch. and Chem. The residuum remaining after the distillation or sublimation of any substance, ‘good for nothing but to be flung away, all vertue being extracted’ (Willis 1681).
| 1641 French Distill. i. (1651) 4 Adde the Caput Mortuum, of Vitriall, or Aqua fortis. 1662 R. Mathew Unl. Alch. §89. 153 Take out the Retort with the Capud. 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece i. i. 80 Take..the Caput Mortuum of the Scull of a Man 1 Dram. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. I. 135 Earth, or..caput mortuum..is the last element of all bodies which can be no farther altered by any art whatsoever. |
3. fig. Worthless residue.
| a 1711 Ken Edmund Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 138 His youthful Heat and Strength for Sin engage, God has the Caput Mortuum of his Age. 1812 Examiner 5 Oct. 633/1 The caput mortuum of the Addington administration. 1876 A. M. Fairbairn in Contemp. Rev. June 124 The Pietists..hailed it as the caput mortuum of the speculative..school. |