litmus
litmus Lexical Profile
litmus Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A decisive factor, indicator, or test that reveals a person's core beliefs, attitudes, or suitability (usually used before another noun, as in 'litmus test').
"A candidate's stance on environmental regulation often serves as a political litmus for voters in the region."
A water-soluble mixture of different dyes extracted from lichens, used in chemistry as an acid-base indicator that turns red in acidic solutions and blue in alkaline solutions.
"The chemistry students dipped strips of paper treated with litmus into the beakers to test the acidity of each solution."
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Middle Dutch 'lijcmoes', derived from Old Norse 'litmosi', meaning 'herbs used in dyeing' (from 'litr', meaning color or dye, and 'mosi', meaning moss or lichen).
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.