pyrōpus

Meaning

1. an alloy of copper and gold
   in cyprio [coronarium et regulare est utrumque ductile] coronarium tenuatur in lamnas, taurorumque felle tinctum speciem auri in coronis histrionum praebet, idemque in uncias additis auri scripulis senis praetenui pyropi brattea ignescit.In Cyprian copper we have the kind known as "coronarium," and that called "regulare," both of them ductile. The former is made into thin leaves, and, after being coloured with ox-gall, is used for what has all the appearance of gilding on the coronets worn upon the stage. The same substance, if mixed with gold, in the proportion of six scruples of gold to the ounce, and reduced into thin plates, acquires a fiery red colour, and is termed "pyropus."—John Bostock, The Natural History, London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855. Perseus77 CE – 79 CE, Plinius Maior, Naturalis Historia 34.94
2. Late Latinpyrope, garnet, precious red stone

Declension

Origins

From Ancient Greek πυρωπός (purōpós, “fire-colored”), from πῦρ (pûr, “fire”) + ὤψ (ṓps, “eye”).