patina
1 a film of oxide formed on the surface of a metal, esp the green oxidation of bronze or copper
patina
2 a broad shallow dish used in ancient Rome
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
Patina
A greenish-brown crust produced by oxidation that forms on the surface of copper and bronze, often multicolored and considered decorative; any thin oxide film which forms on a metal or other material.
Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture Copyright © 2012, 2002, 1998 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
patina
[′pat·ən·ə or pə′tē·nə] (geology)
A thin, colored film produced on a rock surface by weathering.
(metallurgy)
The greenish product, usually basic copper sulfate, formed on copper and copper-rich alloys as a result of prolonged atmospheric corrosion.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
patina, patination
1. A greenish brown crust which forms on bronze.
2. Any thin oxide film which forms on a metal; often multicolored.
3. A film, similar in color, which forms on a material other than metal.
4. Such effects artificially induced, or imitated.
5. A green coating on the surface of copper or copper alloys that have been exposed to the atmosphere for a long time.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Patina
a film ranging from green to cinnamon in color that forms on the surface of copper, bronze, and brass articles. A patina results from the natural corrosion of the metal or from patination—that is, heating or processing with oxidizing agents. A patina formed by the latter method is used to protect works of art and for decorative purposes. Roman artists were the first to recognize patina as a sign of beauty through aging. The term “patination” is also used to designate the process whereby articles not made from copper alloys, for example, plaster-of-paris sculptures, are tinted bronze.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.