A soft, clay-like paste used to fill gaps, hold glass in window frames, or seal cracks in walls.
From French 'potée' meaning tin oxide powder or polishing compound. The material was originally used for polishing, then evolved into the filling and sealing paste we know today around the 1600s.
Putty's magic is that it starts soft enough to shape with your fingers but hardens rock-solid—this transformation happens because the oils in the putty evaporate into the surrounding material, a process people have been using for 400 years.
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