minium Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a reddish oxide of lead (Pb3O4) used as a pigment in paints and in glass and ceramics
    red lead.

WordNet

Min"i*um noun
Etymology
L. minium, an Iberian word, the Romans getting all their cinnabar from Spain; cf. Basque armineá.
Definitions
  1. (Chem.) A heavy, brilliant red pigment, consisting of an oxide of lead, Pb3O4, obtained by exposing lead or massicot to a gentle and continued heat in the air. It is used as a cement, as a paint, and in the manufacture of flint glass. Called also red lead. also called lead tetroxide, lead orthoplumbate, mineral oange, mineral red, Paris red, Saturn red, and less definitively, lead oxide

Webster 1913