Definition of "archil" [ar•chil]

• Variant of orchil. (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.

• "He was short for a Tran, almost Ethan's size, and wore a strange coat of archil and argent done in diamond patterns, the diamond shapes varying in size."
• "Soluble in water and alcohol, this colouring principle yields by precipitation with chloride of calcium a compound known as 'Solid French Purple', a pigment more stable than the archil colours generally, but all too fugitive for the palette."
• "Dyers being well aware of this, are in the habit when mistakes occur of bringing up to shade with soluble dye-stuffs -- archil, indigo extract, and such like."