vitriol, n.
(ˈvɪtrɪəl)
Forms: 4–5 vitriole, 5 vit-, vytreole, 5–6 vytryol(e, 6–7 vitrioll (6 -olle), 5– vitriol; 5–7 vitriall, 6–7 vitrial, 7 vitraell.
[a. OF. (also F.) vitriol 13th c.; = Sp. and Pg. vitriolo, It. vetriolo, -iuolo, vitriolo, -iuolo, -ivuolo) or directly ad. med.L. vitriolum (Albertus Magnus) f. vitrum glass.]
1. One or other of various native or artificial sulphates of metals (see 2 and 3) used in the arts or medicinally, esp. sulphate of iron: a. Used in sing. without article.
| c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 255 Vnslekked lym, chalk,..Poudres diuerse, asshes,..Cered pottes, sal peter, vitriole. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 579 Draganti, vytryole, or coporose. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 40 Puluerez of alume, zucarine brent, of attrament, and of vitriol. 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. Adm. iv. in Ashm. (1652) 190 Also I wrought in Sulphur and in Vitriall, Whych folys doe call the Grene Lyon. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters F j b, Halfe an ounce of vytryol wherof the ynke is made. 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 317/1 Bloodstenchinge. Take of the best Vitriolle, beate it smalle, and boulte it through a fine cloth. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 210 Copperas or Vitriol..is a mineral salt which..doth farre excel many other kinds of salts. 1681 tr. Belon's Myst. Physick Introd. 38 Those Acides, and acrimonious Particles of the Salt and Vitriol which had caused its Sublimation. 1718 Quincy Compl. Disp. 8 The last is what is forced from Vinegar, Vitriol, and such like acid Substances. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The Antients give the Name Chalcitis, or Chalcite, to native Vitriol;..which is a kind of mineral Stone, of a reddish Colour. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 124 Besides sulphur, vitriol is also made here, of a sapphire colour. 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 359 The chloride of calcium melting easily in the still, enables the whole of the acetic acid to be evolved at a lower temperature than when vitriol is employed. 1879 M{supc}Carthy Own Times xviii. II. 26 The use of vitriol was recommended among other destructive agencies. |
b. In pl. (or with a).
| a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 79 Of atramentez, i. of vitriolez, bene many kyndez. 1605 Timme Quersit. i. ix. 37 Some of these salts are bytter as wormewood, some sharpe as vitriolls. 1656 J. Smith Pract. Physick 6 They that drink of them purge forth black excrements by reason of the vitrials. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., According to Boerhaave, Vitriols consist of a metallic Part with a Sulphur adhering, a menstruous Acid, and Water. 1799 Kirwan Geol. Ess. 395 Vitriols have been discovered buried in the ancient sandy bed of that sea. 1868 Watts Dict. Chem. V. 1004 The several vitriols being distinguished by their colours, or by the metals which they contain. |
2. With distinguishing epithets: a. With adjs. of colour. blue vitriol, green vitriol, red vitriol, white vitriol, sulphate of copper, iron, cobalt, and zinc respectively.
| c 1400 tr. Lanfranc's Cirurg. 14 Grene vitriol, & he be do to a man of a drie complexioun, engendrith fleisch. [a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 79 Þer is a spice of vitriol þat is called vitriolum romanum, i. coporose; And it is of ȝalow colour in reward of þe grenner vitriol. And þer is one of white colour bot noȝt schynyng.] 1611 Cotgr., Marcassin iaulne, Red vitrioll. 1676 Phil. Trans. XI. 617 A salt that had some resemblance to white Vitriol. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., In Blue Vitriol, the Metal, where⁓with the Acid, etc. is join'd, is Copper. 1751 Gibson Diseases Horses iii. iii. 193 In some cases it [sc. the horse's eye] may be touched with the blue Vitriol stone, or the Lunar caustic. 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 66 Green Vitriol hath a saltish and astringent taste. 1819 Brande Chem. 247 Copper and Sulphuric Acid—Oxysulphate of Copper—Blue Vitriol. 1837 Dana Min. 180 Cobalt Vitriol..Red Vitriol. Sulphate of Cobalt. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade s.v., White vitriol is a combination of sulphuric-acid and oxide of zinc. 1887 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. IV. 224/2 Ferrous sulphate is the salt so well known as green vitriol, and also in the impure state as copperas. |
b. With other adjs., as English vitriol, German vitriol, Hungarian vitriol, Roman vitriol.
| 1573 Art of Limming 7 Then put in it two unces of greene Coporas, or els of Romayne Vitrial, which is beste. 1611 Cotgr., Vitriol d'Allemagne, German Vitrioll. Ibid., Vitriol d'Hongrie, Hungarie Vitrioll. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 134 The English bring into France..Leade, Tynne, English Vitriall, or Shoemakers blacke. 1651 French Distill. iii. 66 Take of Hungarian, or the best English Vitriall. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Roman Vitriol is made by exposing these Pyrites to the Air, till such time as they calcine. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece i. i. 46 Take Hungarian Vitriol, Allum, of each half a Pound, Phlegm of Vitriol 10 Pounds. 1837 Penny Cycl. VII. 505/1 Sulphuric acid and copper form sulphate of copper, blue vitriol, or Roman vitriol, or blue copperas. |
3. With term indicating the base, as vitriol of cobalt, copper, iron, lead, silver, etc.
| 1695 W. W. New Light Chirurg. Put out 61 The Pouder consists of a Vitriol of Copper. 1699 Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1715) 453/1 Of this opened Sol, to make Vitriol of Gold. 1704 Harris Lex. Techn. I, Vitriol of Copper or Venus, is Blue Chrystals made by a Solution of Copper in Spirit of Nitre, Evaporation, and Chrystallization in a cool place. Ibid., Vitriol of Silver, or of the Moon. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., Of this kind are the Vitriols of gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin. Ibid., Vitriol of Quicksilver, the name of a chemical preparation of quick⁓silver, with acid spirits. Ibid., Another method of making the Vitriol of mercury. 1791 Phil. Trans. LXXXI. 381 Fused..on a plate of platina, with the vitriols of tartar and soda, it appeared entirely to resist their action. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 90 If they are considered..as Vitriols of Cobalt and Nickel, they are ranged among Ores. 1800 Med. Jrnl. IV. 288 The patient bore large doses of the vitriols of copper and of zinc. |
† b. vitriol of Mars, Moon, Venus, etc. (see quots. and 1704 in prec.). Obs.
| 1678 Salmon Pharm. Lond. 836/2 Filings of Steel are digested in Spirit of Vitriol, to make Vitriol of Mars. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), Vitriol of Mars, Iron and Spirit of Vitriol mix'd and distill'd together. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Vitriol of Mars, or Salt of Steel, is made by dissolving Steel in some proper Acid Menstruum then Evaporating and Chrystallizing to gain the Salt as above in Copper. 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 66 These crystals are called Green Vitriol, and Vitriol of Mars. |
4. a. oil of vitriol, concentrated sulphuric acid.
| 1580 Frampton tr. Monardes' Med. agst. Venome 117 b, In our time there hath been compounded and drawen out an Oyle, which they call Oyle of Vitrioll or Coporace. 1611 Cotgr., Huile de vie, Oyle of Vitrioll. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xxii. 176 This we fill'd with Oyl of Vitriol and fair water. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Oil of Vitriol, which comes out after the Spirit, by heightning the Fire wherewith that had been rais'd. 1779 Phil. Trans. LXX. 31 Add, by a little at a time, as much vitriolic acid, commonly sold by the name of oil of vitriol, as will re-dissolve the whole. 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. xv. (1842) 391 Pouring in so much concentrated oil of vitriol as shall moisten the fragments. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 102 Water made slightly sour by addition of a little oil of vitriol. |
b. spirit(s) of vitriol, a distilled essence of vitriol.
| 1671 R. Bohun Wind 175 Such as Oyl of Tartar and spirit of Vitriol. 1674 Phil. Trans. IX. 44 As for the Acid Saline Principle, I suppose no person who hath tasted the Spirit of Vitriol,..will question its abounding in that subject. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Salt, Spirit of Nitre,..Spirit of Salt,..and Spirit of Vitriol. 1771 Encycl. Brit. II. 72/1 If the vitriolic acid contain much water, it is then called spirit of vitriol. 1789 W. Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 223 This may be sharpened with the spirits of vitriol. 1859 Mayne Expos. Lex. 1336 Vitriol, Sweet Spirit of,..a term for..sulphuric ether. |
| fig. 1679 Alsop Melius Inq. ii. i. 174 The Medicine is the same; only Rome has added a few drops of the Spirits of Vitriol. |
† c. colcothar, earth, salt, of vitriol: see quots.
Also elixir of vitriol: see elixir n. 4.
| 1684 tr. Bonet's Merc. Compit. i. 21 Comatous children are..cured by Vomitive Salt of Vitriol. 1699 Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1715) 453/2 Terra Vitrioli dulcis, sweet Earth of Vitriol. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Sulphur, Colcothar, or fixed salt of vitriol. 1755 Dict. Arts & Sci. s.v., A fine purple matter, called colcothar of vitriol. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 95 Take red calcined vitriol, or colcothar of vitriol. |
5. fig. (In allusion to the corrosive properties of vitriol.) Virulence or acrimony of feeling or utterance.
| 1769 Junius Lett. xv. (1788) 90 Flat and insipid in your retired state, but brought into action you become vitriol again. 1872 Spurgeon Treas. David Ps. lv. 3 They..cast the vitriol of their calumny over me. 1895 Literary World (Boston) 8 Nov. 359/1 This introduction, with its mixture of genius, shrewdness, and vitriol, is a piece of prose not to be missed. |
6. attrib. and Comb., as vitriol bath, vitriol chamber, vitriol-maker, vitriol marcasite, vitriol-thrower, vitriol-throwing, vitriol water; vitriol ochre, a former name of glockerite; † vitriol stone, a native vitriol or sulphate.
| 1669 Boyle Certain Physiol. Ess. (ed. 2) Absol. Rest Bodies 15 A bulky Marchasite that I procur'd from a Virtuoso that lives just by a Vitriol-work, whither these among other Vitriol-Stones are brought. 1670 [see vitriolic a. 1]. 1675 E. Wilson Spadacr. Dunelm. 43 Two vitriol waters in the Copper Mine of Herongrundt. 1676 Wiseman Surg. Treat. v. ix. 378 If in the incarning the Wound the Flesh grows luxurious, touch it with a Vitriol⁓stone, and it will..dispose it to cicatrize. 1755 Dict. Arts & Sci. s.v., The old iron, picked up by the poor people about our streets, is sold to the vitriol or copperas makers. 1843 Thackeray Irish Sk.-bk. viii, We had a talk about the vitriol-throwers at Cork, and the sentence just passed upon them. 1849 H. Martineau Hist. Peace v. v. (1877) III. 263 They mourned over the murders, and vitriol-throwing of the operatives, who were enslaved by mercenary delegates. 1867 Bloxam Chem. 203 Reactions in the Vitriol Chambers. 1867 A. J. Wilson Vashti iv, Compassion is about as welcome to my feelings as a vitriol bath to fresh wounds. |
Hence ˈvitriol v. trans., to injure (a person) by means of vitriol; to expose (a thing) to the effects of vitriol.
| 1897 Westm. Gaz. 16 Dec. 5/2, I do not want to be killed, and I have a particular objection to being vitrioled. |