Sunday Word: Viridian
viridian [vuh-rid-ee-uhn]
adjective:
a long-lasting, bluish-green pigment, a green pigment consisting of a hydrated form of chromic oxide
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Examples:
The playwright meticulously unwraps his psychology, interrupting the churlish commentary with lush and tender descriptions of color, like the 'magenta, crimson lake, viridian, burnt sienna, cinnabar green' he's putting to use in a painting. (Maya Phillips, 'The Poltergeist' Review: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Madman, The New York Times, January 2021)
Frostbitten weeds poked from the hardpack, all granularity leeched from the countryside, the icy, angular topography distilled to surfaces shaded cobalt, steel and viridian set against a saffron sky. (Max Peckham, Survival Game The Long Dark Is a Troubling Yet Beautiful Gem, Wired, October 2014)
In Water Lilies, Monet used viridian alone and mixed with other pigments, including a synthetic form of the green mineral pigment malachite, to achieve a range of hues in the vegetation. He often used viridian in mixtures with yellow to depict the sunlit leaves of the water lilies, working the hues together, wet-in-wet, on the canvas. (Kimberley Muir and Ken Sutherland, Color, Chemistry, and Creativity in Monet's Water Lilies, Art Institute Chicago, February 2021)
Another, an iridescent marvel of viridian and indigo with tawny spots like cats' eyes. (Laini Taylor, Strange the Dreamer)
Origin:
1882, from the paint color name (1862), from Latin virid-, stem of viridis 'green, blooming, vigorous' + -ian (Online Etymology Dictionary)