caput mortuum
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈkæpət ˈmɔː(ɹ)tjʊəm/
Noun

caput mortuum (uncountable)

  1. Worthless residue, useless substance.
  2. Cardinal purple, a variety of haematite iron oxide pigment.
    • 2018, Kate Atkinson, Transcription, p. 227:
      "Were they working their way through the colours and now had reached the more abstruse layers of the spectrum? What would be next — caput mortuum, heliotrope? The colours of the day."



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