Whelk
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Description
A large spiral-shelled marine gastropod of the family Buccinidae. Whelk is also an archaic name for a red dye obtained from these mollusks. The dye is also called Tyrian purple.
Synonyms and Related Terms
Tyrian purple; red whelk; Nucella lapillus minchas (Esp.); Purpura patula caracolillo (Esp.); buccin (Fr.);
Resources and Citations
- Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)
- Susan E. Schur, Conservation Terminology: A review of Past & Current Nomenclature of Materials, Technology and Conservation, Spring (p.34-39); Summer (p.35-38); Fall (p.25-36), 1985
- Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
- The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998