FromLatinviridis, from the verbvireō(“be verdant, sprout”).
viridian (countable anduncountable,pluralviridians)
- Abluish-greenpigment made fromchromium sesquioxide.
1890,Arthur Herbert Church, chapter 16, inThe Chemistry of Paints and Painting[1], 3rd edition, London: Seeley & Co., published1901, page195:It would be difficult to exaggerate the value of this addition to the artist’s palette. The colour ofviridian is a very deep bluish green of great purity and transparency. It furnishes, withaureolin on the one hand and withultramarine on the other, an immense number of beautiful hues, adapted to represent the colours of vegetation and of water.
- 1995,Michael Chabon,Wonder Boys, Ch.1, at p.16:
- Then Miss Sloviak emerged from the ladies' room, hair reestablished, cheeks rouged, eyelids freshly painted a softviridian, smelling of what I recognised as Cristalle, the fragrance worn both by my wife, Emily, and also by my lover, Sara Gaskell.
- A bluish-green color.
viridian:
viridian (comparativemoreviridian,superlativemostviridian)
- Of a bluishgreen colour.
1928,Humbert Wolfe, “Spring”, inThis Blind Rose[2], London: Victor Gollancz, page47:spring sweeps the wood’s cathedral nave
with the green fury of a wave,
till oak and elm and beech and ash
in oneviridiancomber crash,
while at their feet red vetches shine,
sharp, and cold, and coralline.
1937,Robert Byron, “Bamian”, inThe Road to Oxiana[3]:We walked out on to a balcony, looking down on the bright green fields, the grey-blue river lined withviridian poplars, and the red earth paths where the peasants were driving their animals[…]
