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alizarin or alizarine (uh-LIZ-er-in) - n., a reddish orange compound (1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone, C14H8O4) used as a red dye, originally extracted from madder root but now synthesized.
Because it requires a mordant to fix it and is not the most colorfast dye in the world, it is not used much anymore as a dye -- but still is used in paints, being part of both rose madder and alizarin crimson. Adopted around 1830 from French alizarine, from Spanish alizari, from Arabic al, the + ʿaṣārah, juice.
---L.
Because it requires a mordant to fix it and is not the most colorfast dye in the world, it is not used much anymore as a dye -- but still is used in paints, being part of both rose madder and alizarin crimson. Adopted around 1830 from French alizarine, from Spanish alizari, from Arabic al, the + ʿaṣārah, juice.
---L.
