pulvillio

English

Alternative forms

• pulvil, pulvilio, pulville

Etymology

From Spanish polvillo, diminutive of polvo (“dust, powder”). Compare later pulvil.

Noun

pulvillio (countable and uncountable, plural pulvillios)

1. (now rare, historical) A kind of perfumed cosmetic powder, applied to the skin, hair or wig. [from 17th c.]
   • 1711 May 23 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SATURDAY, May 12, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 63; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     Smells of incense, ambergris, and pulvillios.

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

     [H]is own skull, at the same instant, descended upon the side of his couch with such violence, that his periwig was struck off, and the whole room filled with pulvilio.