Definition of "siccative" [sic•ca•tive]

• A substance added to paints and some medicines to promote drying; a drier. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Questi dunque bolliti con altre sue misture gli fecero la vernice ch 'egli, e tutti pittori del mondo aveano lungamente desiderata "--" found that linseed and nut oil were the most siccative."
• "It is an excellent dryer in oil, and has often been used as a siccative with other colours, but it cannot safely be so employed except with the ochres, earths, and blacks in general."
• "In painting it follows, and adds richness and depth to, gamboge in water, and goes well into varnish; but any lead used in rendering oils siccative, browns it, and for the same reason it is useless in tints."