Word of the Day

: July 31, 2013

pinchbeck

adjective PINCH-bek

What It Means

1 : made of an alloy of copper and zinc used especially to imitate gold in jewelry

2 : counterfeit or spurious

pinchbeck in Context

Though our hosts were not outwardly unfriendly, we suspected that their kindness to us was pinchbeck. "Presently, your uncommon brooch will interest folks who collect scarab or Victorian jewelry, pinchbeck pieces or antique Egyptian items. If the pin has a strong, working clasp and no damage, it is valued at $75 to $125." - From an article by Alyce Hand Benham in The Press of Atlantic City, May 18, 2013

Did You Know?

On November 27, 1732, an advertisement ran in a British newspaper announcing that "the toys made of the late ingenious Mr. Pinchbeck's curious metal ... are now sold only by his son." The Mr. Pinchbeck in question was Christopher Pinchbeck, a London watchmaker who invented the alloy that would be posthumously named for him. Although the metal is used as a substitute for gold, the word "pinchbeck," which can also be used as a noun, didn't acquire its "counterfeit" sense until the 1790s, over 50 years after Pinchbeck's death.