caput mortuum

/ˈkæpət ˈmɔː(ɹ)tjʊəm/

noun

Worthless residue of sublimation or distillation.

OriginLatin caput mortuum →
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Meanings

nouncaput mortuum (uncountable)
  1. uncountablealchemyWorthless residue of sublimation or distillation.
  2. uncountableCardinal purple, a variety of haematite iron oxide pigment.

    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.

    2018, Kate Atkinson, Transcription, page 227

Origin

  1. Latincaput mortuum
  2. Englishcaput mortuum

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

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

caput mortuum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caput%20mortuum

MLA

“caput mortuum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caput%20mortuum. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “caput mortuum,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caput%20mortuum.

Source: caput mortuum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.