Definition
The Collins English Dictionary defines mascara as "a cosmetic substance for darkening, curling, coloring, and thickening the eyelashes, applied with a brush or rod." The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) adds that mascara is occasionally used on the eyebrows as well.
The OED also references mascaro from works published in the late 1400s. In 1886, the Peck & Snyder Catalogue advertises, “Mascaro or Water Cosmetique… For darkening the eyebrow and moustaches without greasing them and making them prominent.” In 1890, the Century Dictionary defined mascara as “a kind of paint used for the eyebrows and eyelashes by actors.” And in 1894, N. Lynn advises in Lynn’s Practical Hints for Making-up, “to darken eyelashes, paint with mascara, or black paint, with a small brush.
Read more about this topic: Mascara
Famous quotes containing the word definition:
“The definition of good prose is proper words in their proper places; of good verse, the most proper words in their proper places. The propriety is in either case relative. The words in prose ought to express the intended meaning, and no more; if they attract attention to themselves, it is, in general, a fault.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)
“One definition of man is “an intelligence served by organs.””
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I’m beginning to think that the proper definition of “Man” is “an animal that writes letters.””
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)