caput mortuum

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin caput mortuum (literally “dead head”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkæpət ˈmɔː(ɹ)tjʊəm/

Noun

caput mortuum (uncountable)

1. (alchemy) Worthless residue of sublimation or distillation.
2. Cardinal purple, a variety of haematite iron oxide pigment.
   • 2018, Kate Atkinson, Transcription, page 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.

See also

• 🝎

Latin

Etymology

Literally, “dead head”. Figurative use from alchemical literature.

Noun

caput mortuum n (genitive capitis mortuum); third declension

1. a dead man's head, a skull
2. worthless residue, useless substance
   • 1591 "Caput mortuum, ut est apud Paracelsum, sign. materias, quae sunt in fundo vasis chimici" (Antonio Ricciardo, Commentaria symbolica, p. 138)
3. Cardinal purple, a variety of haematite iron oxide pigment

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem) with an indeclinable portion.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	caput mortuum	capita mortuum
Genitive	capitis mortuum	capitum mortuum
Dative	capitī mortuum	capitibus mortuum
Accusative	caput mortuum	capita mortuum
Ablative	capite mortuum	capitibus mortuum
Vocative	caput mortuum	capita mortuum

Swedish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin caput mortuum.

Noun

caput mortuum c

1. (alchemy) caput mortuum; residue

   Synonyms: 🝎, nigredo

   • 1771 June 15, “Lärda saker och rön. [Learned things and findings]”, in Stockholms vecko-blad‎^[1], page 1:

     Caput mortuum ger och efter afbränningen något fast lut-salt.

     Caput mortuum gives and after burning some solid lye-salt.

2. a brown-purple pigment, mainly of iron oxide (color/colour)

   Synonym: (dated) engelskt rött

3. mummy brown; a reddish-brown pigment, made from ground mummy and resin (color/colour)

   Synonyms: egyptiskt brun, mumia, mumiebrunt