Krems white
noun · first attested 19th century
English mangled the Austrian name so thoroughly that the paint is now sold as Cremnitz white.
An especially pure form of white lead used as a painter's pigment.
Record
- Relationship
- Named for a product of the place
- Confidence
- ProbableThe conventional story is likely, with caveats.
- Attested
- 19th century
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Krems
- In English
Krems white
Kremserweiss was made by a precipitation method first used at Krems, from lead worked out of Austrian galena mines, and nineteenth century painters treated it as the purest white lead available. English and French dealers reshaped the name into Kremnitz or Cremnitz white, which points instead at the mining town of Kremnitz, now Kremnica in Slovakia. Manufacturers still use the name for pure lead white oil paint.