| 释义 |
tombac|ˈtɒmbæk|
Forms: 7 tombaga, tambaycke, tumbeck, 8 tombago, tambaqua, tumbanck, tambac, 9 tombec, tombak, 8– tombac.
[The current form is a. F. tombac (1700 in Hatz.-Darm.) = It. tombacco, Pg. tambaca, Sp. tumbaga, a. Malay tambâga copper.]
a. An alloy, of East Indian origin, of copper and zinc, in various proportions, containing from 82 to 99 per cent. of copper. Used in the east for gongs or bells; in Europe, under various names, as Prince's metal, Mannheim gold, etc., as a material for cheap jewellery.
red tombac, that containing above 92 per cent. of copper. yellow tombac, that containing 82 to 90 per cent. white tombac, an alloy of copper and arsenic.
1602Lancaster Voy. India in Purchas Pilgrims (1625) I. iii. iii. §3. 153 All the dishes..were, either of pure Gold, or of another Mettall..called Tambaycke, which groweth of Gold and Brasse together. 1602–5Scott Disc. Java ibid. iv. §5. 180 Their drummes are huge pannes made of a metall called Tombaga. 1727–41Chambers Cycl., Tambac, or Tambaqua, a mixture of gold and copper which the people of Siam hold more beautiful..than gold itself. 1760–72tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) I. 121 Round their arms, they [women of Panama] wear bracelets of gold and tombac. Ibid. II. 60 Jewels set in gold, or for singularity sake, in tombago. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 43 Tombac has still more copper, and is of a deeper red than pinchbeck. Ibid. II. 399 Copper combines with five-sixths of arsenic, forming a white, hard, and brittle alloy;..it is called white tombac, and is much used in the manufacture of buttons. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 710 Tombac. 16 lb. of copper, 1 lb. of tin, and 1 lb. of zinc. Red Tombac. 5½ lb. of copper, and ½ lb. of zinc... White Tombac. Copper and Arsenic. 1853Ure Dict. Arts I. 243 Tombak, or Red Brass, in the cast state, is an alloy of copper and zinc, containing not more than 20 per cent. of the latter constituent. 1864–72Watts Dict. Chem. II. 47 The most ductile of all the alloys of copper and zinc are those which contain 84·5 per cent. of copper to 15·5 of zinc (tombac), and 71·5 copper to 28·5 zinc (brass)... Karsten.
(b) In Archæol. usu. tumbaga, -bago.
1931E. Nordenskiöld Compar. Ethnogr. Stud. IX. 104 The awl..has been analyzed by Dr. K. G. Almström, and found to contain 33% Au, 12% Ag and 55% Cu. This is the composition generally known in archaeological literature as tumbaga. 1936Nature 4 Jan. 29/1 In Antioquia, in Colombia,..objects are found made particularly of the gold alloy..which is known as ‘tumbago’. 1974S. E. Morison European Discovery of America: Southern Voy. vii. 152 As ornaments they [sc. Venezuelan Indians] displayed great polished disks made of an alloy of copper and gold that they called guanin, and which modern archaeologists have named tumbaga.
†b. A musical instrument made of this. rare.
1662J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. i. (1669) 30 A Tumbeck, or Timbrel, a Haw-boy, and several Tabours.
c. attrib., as tombac-brown adj.
1796Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 30 (Colours) Tombac brown—metallic yellowish brown. 1811Pinkerton Petralogy I. 194 Granite, with tombac brown mica. |