Bronze

Bronze, bronz, n. an alloy of copper and tin used in various ways since the most ancient times: anything cast in bronze: the colour of bronze: (fig.) impudence.—adj. made of bronze: coloured like bronze.—v.t. to give the appearance of bronze to: (fig.) to harden.—adj. Bronzed, coated with bronze: hardened.—ns. Bronze′-steel, or Steel-bronze, a specially hardened bronze; Bronze′-wing, Bronze′-pi′geon, a species of Australian pigeon having wings marked with a lustrous bronze colour.—v.t. Bronz′ify, to make into bronze.—ns. Bronz′ing, the process of giving the appearance of bronze; Bronz′ite, a lustrous kind of diallage.—adj. Bronz′y, having the appearance of bronze.—Bronze age or period, a term in prehistoric archæology denoting the condition or stage of culture of a people using bronze as the material for cutting implements and weapons—as a stage of culture coming between the use of stone and the use of iron for those purposes—not an absolute division of time, but a relative condition of culture. [Fr.—It. bronzo—L. Brundusium, the modern Brindisi.]