Meanings
alternative aurichalchum · alternative aurichalcum · alternative orichalc · alternative orichalch · alternative orichalchum
- uncountableA valuable yellow metal known to the Ancient Greeks and Romans; now sometimes interpreted as referring to a natural alloy of gold and copper, and sometimes treated as a mythical substance.
Many walls were coated with metals – with brass, tin and a red ^([sic]) metal, unknown to us, called orichalcum.
2008, Jonathan Black, A Secret History of the World, Quercus, published 2008, page 162
Origin
- Ancient Greekὀρείχαλκος
- Latinorichalcum
- Englishorichalcum
Learned borrowing from Latin orichalcum, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ὀρείχαλκος (oreíkhalkos), from dative singular of ὄρος (óros, “mountain”) + χαλκός (khalkós, “copper”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
orichalcum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/orichalcum
“orichalcum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/orichalcum. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “orichalcum,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/orichalcum.
Source: orichalcum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.