Plural of bice, a blue or green pigment made from copper compounds that was historically used in paints and dyes.
From Middle Dutch 'bijs' or similar Germanic sources, referring to a type of mineral pigment. The word entered English in the 16th century through trade contacts with the Netherlands, originally describing naturally occurring copper-based colorants.
Medieval and Renaissance painters used bice pigments as a cheaper alternative to expensive lapis lazuli, making this humble mineral pigment essential to art history—some of those old paintings still show its distinctive blue-green hues after 500 years!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.