What does "ceruse" mean?

Synonym of white lead, a hydrate of lead mixed with carbonate, particularly as used to whiten skin or in early medicine.

What is a synonym for "ceruse"?

Common synonyms include: white lead, lead carbonate, white lead.

Ceruse

//sɪˈɹuːs// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
Synonym of white lead, a hydrate of lead mixed with carbonate, particularly as used to whiten skin or in early medicine. uncountable, usually
"Galen hath taken exceptions at such waters which run through leaden pipes, ob cerussam quæ in iis generatur, for that unctuous ceruse, which causeth dysenteries and fluxes […]."
2
a poisonous white pigment that contains lead wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

white lead lead carbonate white lead

Example

More examples

"Galen hath taken exceptions at such waters which run through leaden pipes, ob cerussam quæ in iis generatur, for that unctuous ceruse, which causeth dysenteries and fluxes […]."

Etymology

From French céruse, from Latin cērusa, variant of cērussa, q.v.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.