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mordant

mordant [Fr.,=biting], substance used in dyeing to fix certain dyes (mordant dyes) in cloth. Either the mordant (if it is colloidal) or a colloid produced by the mordant adheres to the fiber, attracting and fixing the colloidal mordant dye (see colloid ); the insoluble, colored precipitate that is formed is called a lake . The chemical compounds used as mordants are either acidic or basic. Acid mordants (e.g., tannic acid) are employed with basic dyes; basic mordants (e.g., alum, chrome alum, and certain salts of aluminum, chromium, copper, iron, potassium, and tin) are employed with acid dyes. Cloth to be dyed may be treated first with the mordant and then with the dye, or the mordant and dye may be applied together. The vividness of certain dyes that ordinarily do not require the use of a mordant may be markedly increased when one is employed.

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"mordant." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 5 Jul. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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mordant

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

mordant biting. XV. — (O)F., prp. of mordre bite:- Rom. *mordere, for L. mordēre.

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T. F. HOAD. "mordant." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 5 Jul. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "mordant." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (July 5, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-mordant.html

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mordant

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | © The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2009, originally published by Oxford University Press 2009. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

mor·dant / ˈmôrdnt/ • adj. (esp. of humor) having or showing a sharp or critical quality; biting: a mordant sense of humor. • n. a substance, typically an inorganic oxide, that combines with a dye or stain and thereby fixes it in a material. ∎ an adhesive compound for fixing gold leaf. ∎ a corrosive liquid used to etch the lines on a printing plate. • v. [tr.] impregnate or treat (a fabric) with a mordant. DERIVATIVES: mor·dan·cy / -dnsē/ n. mor·dant·ly adv.

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	Mordant mirth at Mendocino, as faithful keg is interred. (Mendocino Brewing Co.) Magazine article from: Modern Brewery Age; 9/12/1994
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	Outside the comfort zone: combining images of global brutality with attacks on the painterly surface, Leon Golub's work has long been a disturbing presence. New York recently played host to a traveling retrospective and two smaller shows of the artist's mordant "late" paintings. Magazine article from: Art in America; 4/1/2002; ; 700+ words ; While participating in a panel years ago, Leon Golub was asked by a curator in the audience, Have you ever been to the Louvre? The question seems to have meant something like: Have you ever seen a real painting? Do you know what a real painting should look like? What apparently provoked this Read more
	Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz at OK Harris. Magazine article from: Art in America; 10/1/2006; ; 403 words ; The mordant quality of Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz's recent trompe I'oeil paintings derives from the desolate nature of the images she chooses... Read more
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