Bronzy

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having a brownish-gold color or metallic sheen resembling the surface of bronze
2. Showing the warm, dull gold or reddish-brown tint associated with the metal bronze
3. Resembling bronze in color, especially a coppery gold tone with a slight shine

Etymology: "Bronzy" is about as plain as English suffixes get: the adjective "bronze" with the common ending "-y", which turns a noun into a word meaning "having the qualities of" or "resembling" that noun. So a bronzy surface is one that looks like bronze without necessarily being bronze, much as a "stony" beach is covered in stones or a "milky" drink looks like milk. The base word is the interesting part. "Bronze" came into English from Italian "bronzo", and its ultimate origin is uncertain, with several proposed sources in Italian and Persian. Whatever its history, the metal it names is an alloy, chiefly of copper and tin, and the colour people call bronze is that warm, brownish-gold tone of the metal's surface. "Bronzy" applies that colour to anything that shares it, from a suntan to a glossy beetle's shell, and it is most often used for the sheen rather than the substance.

Synonyms: bronze-colored, brownish