tombac
Definitions
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun An alloy of copper and zinc (and sometimes arsenic) used to imitate gold in cheap jewelry and for gilding.
Examples
-
We know that there is found in India, not only copper strictly so called, but zinc also, which being mixed with copper constitutes brass, pinchbeck, tombac, similor, and all the other metallic mixtures which resemble gold in colour.
Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester
Note
The word 'tombac' comes into English through French, from Dutch 'tombak', from Malay 'tembaga'.
