▪ I. lacquer, n.
(ˈlækə(r))
Also 6 leckar, 6–7 laker, 7 laccar, laquer, 7 lacre, 7–9 lacker.
[ad. obs. F. lacre (17th c.) a kind of sealing wax = Sp., Pg. lacre, 16th c. It. lacra, Pg. alacre, laquar (Yule); an unexplained variant or derivative of Pg. lacca lac. The current form lacquer is influenced app. by F. laque lac1.]
† 1. = lac1 1. Obs.
| 1579 Hakluyt Voy. (1598) I. 432 Enquire of the price of leckar, and all other things belonging to dying. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Indies 33 marg., Laker is a kinde of gum that procedeth of the Ant. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xvii. (1663) 58 Oxen..laden with..Ivory, Wax, Lacre, Benjamin, Camphire and Gold in Powder. Ibid. lii. 207 They caused..a great deal of Lacre, which is like unto hard Wax, to be dropped scalding hot upon me. 1714 Fr. Bk. of Rates 45 Lacker for Paint or Dying. |
2. a. A gold-coloured varnish, consisting chiefly of a solution of pale shellac in alcohol, tinged with saffron, anatta, or other colouring matters; used chiefly as a coating for brass.
| 1673 Marvell Reh. Transp. ii. Wks. II. 243 His soul seemed to have set up a gilt vehicle of the new lacker. 1697 Evelyn Numism. vi. 215 A sort of fine Varnish or harder Laccar. 1708 Brit. Apollo I. No. 2. 3/1 Lacquer [is perform'd] with Leaf Silver, ting'd to a Gold Colour, by a Varnish compos'd of Rectify'd Spirits and Gums. 1773 Phil. Trans. LXIII. 326 The best apartments..have usually a broad cornish of lacker, or false gold, round their coved ceilings. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 731 To make Lacquer of various Tints. 1855 Browning Old Pictures in Florence xxxii, No civic guards, all plumes and lacquer. |
| fig. 1681 T. Flatman Heracl. Ridens (1713) i. No. 37. 241 They have got such a trick of gilding this Pill of Damnation with the spiritual Lacker of a safe Conscience and Protestant. 1863 Mrs. Oliphant Salem Ch. ii. 30 The thin superficial lacker with which Miss Phoebe was coated. |
b. Applied to various kinds of resinous varnish, capable of taking a hard polish, used in Japan, China, Burma, and India for coating articles of wood or other materials; chiefly the ‘Japanese lacquer’, obtained from the
Rhus vernicifera.
| 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. (1729) 400 Laquer which is used in Japanning of Cabinets. 1888 Pall Mall G. 19 Nov. 2/1 Lacquer is the sap of the lacquer-tree, Rhus vernicifera, drawn off by making incisions in the bark during the rainy season. 1889 Nature 31 Oct. 655 Japanese lacquer is the product of a tree, the Rhus vernicifera. |
c. A kind of fixative for a hairstyle,
usu. applied as an aerosol spray.
| 1941 F. E. Wall Princ. & Pract. Beauty Culture xii. 454 Many of the coiffures..can be made more lasting through the use of lacquer as a fixative. 1946 Amer. Hairdresser Dec. i. 3 (Advt.), Beautician and patron both recognize the superiority of Wella, the original lacquer. 1966 J. S. Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing 88/1 Most of the modern lacquers will shampoo out satisfactorily with a soap or soapless shampoo. 1983 P. Spires Boots Bk. Hair Care iv. 21 During the Fifties and Sixties the bouffant, beehive styles led to the over-use and misuse of lacquers. |
3. The class of decorative articles made of wood coated with lacquer (sense 2 b), and often inlaid with ornaments of ivory, mother-of-pearl, or metal; chiefly made in Japan, China, and India. Also
pl. works of art of this kind.
| 1895 Daily News 17 May 6/2 Rare specimens of the finest old lacquers by great masters. Mod. Really good Japanese lacquer is not easy to procure. |
4. Comb.:
† lacquer-hat (see
quot.);
lacquer-tree, the tree (
Rhus vernicifera) that yields Japan lacquer; also, a similar tree in S. America;
lacquer-ware = sense 3;
lacquer-work, the making of lacquer-ware; also
= lacquer-ware;
lacquer-wort, ?
= lacquer-tree.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), *Lacker-Hat, a Hat made without stiffening. |
| [1863 Bates Nat. Amazon vii. (1864) 175 Its borders were composed in great part of..*Lacre-trees, whose berries exude globules of wax resembling gamboge.] 1884 Pall Mall G. 24 Apr. 2/2 The cultivation of the lacquer tree has rapidly declined. |
| 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. (1729) 409 They make very fine *Lacquer-ware. 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4166/3 Laden with raw Silks, China Lacker-Ware, and Salt-Petre. 1861 C. P. Hodgson Resid. Japan 28 It is..disgraceful for a Japanese to part with old lacquer ware. |
| 1669 Pepys Diary 23 Apr., Sir Philip Howard and Watson (the inventors, as they pretend, of the business of varnishing and *lacker-worke). 1878 J. J. Young Ceram. Art (1879) 165 In Japan Princes are said to have engaged in lacquer-work. |
| 1659 Torriano, Silphione, *laker-wort, some say it is an hearb yielding the gum Beniamin. |
Senses 2 c, 4 in
Dict. become 2 d, 5. Add:
[2.] c. A coating material consisting of organic polymers dissolved in a solvent which is applied to a surface as a liquid and dries to give a hard glossy finish (differing from a paint in that the solvent simply evaporates and no chemical change is involved in the drying).
| 1861 Barnwell & Rollason Combining Pyroxylene with Other Substances (Provisional Brit. Pat. Specification 2249) 3 Our invention consists in dissolving pyroxylene in any of its known solvents, and adding thereto oils..gums or resins... In a state of solution its uses would be as..a lacquer or wash for gilded and plated wares. 1904 A. H. Sabin Industr. & Artistic Technol. Paint & Varnish xi. 112 The commercial use of pyroxylin lacquers for adorning and protecting manufactured articles is a subject of interest and importance. 1911 E. C. Worden Nitrocellulose Industry I. x. 297 The same year [sc.1856], Parkes devised a waterproofing lacquer prepared by dissolving ‘guncotton’ in ‘a mixture of wood spirit or naphtha distilled from chloride of lime and sulphuric acid’. 1930 Motor Body Building LI. 105/2 Cellulose Lacquer, a finishing material containing nitro-cellulose. 1935 Discovery Nov. 326/2 Cellulose lacquers, paints, distempers, etc. 1958 Economist 20 Dec. 1051/1 Cellulose Acetate makes tough, water-resistant wire and cable coatings. Cellulose Acetate Butyrate produces lacquers, adhesives, airplane dopes and melt and peelable coatings possessing high strength, flexibility and excellent weathering properties. 1971 Nature 3 Dec. 254/1 Thermosetting acrylic finishes which should prove to be more durable than thermoplastic acrylic lacquers now widely used as car finishes. 1984 E. P. DeGarmo et al. Materials & Processes in Manuf. (ed. 6) viii. 194 Adequate corrosion resistance can usually be provided by enamel or lacquer finishes. 1992 Independent 22 Feb. 33/3 Most fitted kitchens are basically chipboard..with spray-on lacquer, fibre or veneer skin on top. |
4. ellipt. = lacquer disc, sense *5 below.
| 1946 Electronic Industries Nov. 65/1 Although a stylus that is used to cut wax masters does not require a burnishing facet, this feature is indispensable on a stylus designed for lacquers. 1976 Audio June 40/2 From the remix studio the tape goes to the mastering studio where a mastering engineer cuts a ‘reference lacquer’. 1987 Music Week 28 Feb. (Studio Week Suppl.) 1/3 Capitol Magnetics halts productions as demand for lacquers plummets. |
[5.] lacquer disc, a disc coated with lacquer that is the first in the series of discs involved in the manufacture of a gramophone record, being cut from a tape or (formerly) directly during the recording process.
| 1945 Proc. IRE XXXIII. 761/1 *Lacquer disks, disks, usually of metal, glass, or paper, which are coated with a lacquer compound..and used either for ‘instantaneous’ recordings or for lacquer masters. 1968 Times 29 Nov. (Leisure Suppl.) p.iv/6, The programme matter on the tape is transferred to a lacquer disc by means of a cutting machine. |
▪ II. lacquer, v. (
ˈlækə(r))
Also 8
laccar, 8–9
lacker.
[f. lacquer n.] trans. To cover or coat with lacquer; hence
gen. to varnish;
occas. of the material: To serve as a varnish for. Also with
over.
| 1688 G. Parker & J. Stalker Japaning xviii. 56 To lacquer in Oyl, such things as are to be exposed to the Weather. 1692 Lond. Gaz. No. 2813/4 The places appointed for receiving Guns, and Pistols.., or other Ironwork to be Lacquer'd..are [etc.]. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton xviii. (1840) 315 Her stern..was now all lackered. 1745 J. Mason Self-Knowl. iii. viii. (1853) 210 A smooth and shining varnish, which may lacker over the basest Metal. 1822 J. Imison Sci. & Art II. 14 The best material for the lamp furnace is brass lackered. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 129 The Black Lac of the Burmah country, with which the natives lacker various kinds of ware. 1859 L. Oliphant China & Japan II. x. 227 A very handsome china bowl, curiously lacquered inside. |
| transf. and fig. 1705 T. Bradbury Serm. 5 Nov. 101 They may have Names that are laccar'd over with a false Divinity. 1720 Gay Poems (1745) II. 22 From patches justly plac'd they borrow graces And with vermilion lacker o'er their faces. 1755 Connoisseur No. 65 ¶2 A pretty fellow lacquers his pale face with as many varnishes as a fine lady. 1807 Opie in Lect. Paint. iv. (1848) 336 The knowledge of his principle..served only to lacquer over poverty of thought and feebleness of design. 1831 Edin. Rev. LIII. 223 Lackered over with an outer coating of fair-seeming. |