Meaning & use
ceruse
Last updated
White lead, historically used as a pigment or as a cosmetic to whiten the skin.
See it in a sentence
Elizabethan court ladies famously applied ceruse to achieve a pale complexion.
The old manuscript described how ceruse was ground from lead corroded by vinegar fumes.
A note on using this word
Now considered highly toxic; its cosmetic use in earlier centuries is thought to have caused lead poisoning in some historical figures.
Words with a similar meaning
white lead
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