litmus

English

Etymology

From Middle English litmose, lytmose, litemose, from Old Norse litmosi (“moss used for dyeing”), from lita (“to dye, stain”), from litr (“colour, dye, blee”), from Proto-Germanic *wlitiz, *wlituz (“appearance, blee”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to see”) + mosi (“moss”). Cognate with Old English wlite (“appearance, form, brightness, countenance”). More at moss.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪtməs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪtməs

Noun

litmus (countable and uncountable, plural litmuses)

1. (uncountable) A dyestuff extracted from certain lichens, that changes color when exposed to pH levels greater than or less than certain critical levels.
2. A simple test of acidity in a liquid using litmus, usually in the form of litmus paper.
3. A simple test of any attribute; a litmus test.

Synonyms

• (dyestuff from lichen): lacmus

Derived terms

• litmus paper
• litmus test

Translations

dyestuff from lichen

• Bulgarian: лакмус m (lakmus)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 石蕊 (zh) (shíruǐ)

• Czech: lakmus m
• Finnish: lakmus (fi)
• French: tournesol (fr) m
• Galician: tornasol (gl) m
• Georgian: ლაკმუსი (ka) (laḳmusi)
• German: Lackmus (de) m
• Greek: ηλιοτρόπιο (el) n (iliotrópio)
• Hungarian: lakmusz (hu)
• Italian: tornasole (it) m
• Japanese: リトマス (ritomasu)
• Latin: lacmus
• Maori: tohu waikawa
• Persian: تورنسل (fa) (tornesol)
• Polish: lakmus (pl) m
• Portuguese: tornassol m
• Russian: ла́кмус (ru) m (lákmus)
• Spanish: tornasol m
• Swedish: lackmus (sv) c
• Tagalog: tornasol
• Turkish: turnusol (tr)
• Vietnamese: quỳ (vi)

See also

• Roccella tinctoria
• Roccella fuciformis
• Roccella pygmaea
• Roccella phycopsis
• Lecanora tartarea
• Variolaria dealbata
• Ochrolechia parella
• Ochrolechia tartarea
• Parmotrema tinctorum
• Parmelia
• Roccella montagnei
• Dendrographa leucophoea

Anagrams

• multis, slum it, sultim, tilmus