Viridian
adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A bluish-green pigment made from chromium sesquioxide. countable, uncountable
"It would be difficult to exaggerate the value of this addition to the artist’s palette. The colour of viridian is a very deep bluish green of great purity and transparency. It furnishes, with aureolin on the one hand and with ultramarine on the other, an immense number of beautiful hues, adapted to represent the colours of vegetation and of water."
- 2 A bluish-green color. countable, uncountable
- 1 Of a bluish green colour.
"spring sweeps the wood’s cathedral nave with the green fury of a wave, till oak and elm and beech and ash in one viridian comber crash, while at their feet red vetches shine, sharp, and cold, and coralline."
Example
More examples"It would be difficult to exaggerate the value of this addition to the artist’s palette. The colour of viridian is a very deep bluish green of great purity and transparency. It furnishes, with aureolin on the one hand and with ultramarine on the other, an immense number of beautiful hues, adapted to represent the colours of vegetation and of water."
Etymology
From Latin viridis, from the verb vireō (“be verdant, sprout”).
Related phrases
More for "viridian"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.