Posted by Chuck(G) on August 15, 2002 at 13:58:02:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Take Tranish off? posted by Merriam Webster on August 13, 2002 at 08:41:10:
The "usually green" is probably what most interior decorators and architects would call a patina on copper, but let's not forget the patina of an antique finish on wood, nor the dark-brown patina on bronze sculptures. Nor should we forget the fine brownish patina on an old tuba.
A better definition (M-W is so miserable at times!) would be definition 2 from the OED (definition 1, a shallow Roman dish, isn't even given by M-W):
2. A film or incrustation produced by oxidation on the surface of old bronze, usually of a green colour and esteemed as an ornament. Hence extended to a similar alteration to the surface of marble, flint or other substances. (There follows a list of citations, beginning with Horace Walpole in 1748).
So, patina in this respect, clearly would not have to be green.
--Chuck
(who thinks Webster's is a dictionary for dummies)