Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

ormolu en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈɔː(ɹ)məˌluː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈɔɹməˌlu/ (General-American)

Etymology

From French or moulu (literally “ground gold”).

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Made from golden or gilded brass or bronze.
    • At one of the ormolu tables, near a lamp with a pink shade, Gaston insisted on making at least a partial statement. 1888, Henry James, The Reverberator, Macmillan and Co.:
    • "He [R. L. Stevenson] took his mother?" I repeated, off guard, and he replied, turning a quick back flip of satisfaction, "Yeah, and his ormolu clock, and all his furniture from Edinburgh." 1997 May 17, Marianne Macdonald, “Who is Paul Theroux?”, in Independent (UK):

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
or-molu alternative lexicographic
or-moulu alternative lexicographic
ormulu alternative lexicographic

ormolu en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈɔː(ɹ)məˌluː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈɔɹməˌlu/ (General-American)

Etymology

From French or moulu (literally “ground gold”).

Meanings

  1. (countable, uncountable) Golden or gilded brass or bronze used for decorative purposes.
    • Had he deemed it "wisest, best," Mr. O'Donagough was not without the means of furnishing a splendid mansion in very showy style, and yet not leaving a single morsel of lacker, or or-molu, unpaid for. 1840, Frances Trollope, “Practical Information Carefully Obtained, and Promptly Acted upon— […]”, in The Widow Married; […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 2:
    • It is an old-fashioned space of pink-and-green trellis carpet and French ormolu, half-concealed by heavy brocade curtains. 2023 September 23, Lauren Indvik, “God is in the details”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
or-moulu alternative lexicographic
ormulu alternative lexicographic
or-molu alternative lexicographic
ormolus Number=Plur lexicographic

Relateds

or

ormolu en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈɔː(ɹ)məˌluː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈɔɹməˌlu/ (General-American)

Etymology

From French or moulu (literally “ground gold”).

Meanings

  1. To decorate with gilded ormolu articles.
    • But I have seen apartments in the tenure of Americans—men of exceedingly moderate means yet rara aves of good taste—which, in negative merit at least, might vie with any of the or-molued cabinets of our friends across the water. 1840, Edgar Allan Poe, The Philosophy of Furniture:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
ormoluing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
ormolus Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
ormulu alternative lexicographic
or-moulu alternative lexicographic
or-molu alternative lexicographic
ormolued Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
ormolued Tense=Past lexicographic