sphragide

English

Etymology

From Latin sphragis, sphragidis (“Lemnian earth”), from Ancient Greek σφραγίς (sphragís, “a seal”), so called because sold in sealed packets.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsfræd͡ʒaɪd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

sphragide (countable and uncountable, plural sphragides)

1. (mineralogy) An aluminous earth of a grayish yellow color; a medicinal clay.
   • 1860, Archaeologia Americana:

     Dr. Hawks says it is found in Lemnos, sometimes called Terra Lemnia, and used in medicine. It is sometimes called sphragide.

   • 1874, Reports on the Vienna Universal Exhibition of 1873, page 498:

     Lemnian earth (sphragide bole, a kind of fine clay)

   • 1906, The National Druggist - Volume 36, page 269:

     The genuine Lemnian earth of the Greeks, or Sphragide, was a yellowish-grey earth or clay found in the Island of Stalimene (ancient Lemnos).

   • 2017, C.J. Duffin, C. Gardner-Thorpe, R.T.J. Moody, Geology and Medicine: Historical Connections, →ISBN, page 151:

     Pb content is relatively elevated in the sphragides compared to some of the sediments, but not all (i.e. LE6-1.60).

Synonyms

• Lemnian earth, Lemnian bole

References

• “sphragide”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “sphragide”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• Medicinal clay on Wikipedia.Wikipedia