Ormolu
adj, noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Golden or gilded brass or bronze used for decorative purposes. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 2 brass that looks like gold; used to decorate furniture wordnet
- 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."
- 1 Made from golden or gilded brass or bronze. not-comparable
"At one of the ormolu tables, near a lamp with a pink shade, Gaston insisted on making at least a partial statement."
Example
More examples"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."
Etymology
From French or moulu (literally “ground gold”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.