Forms: 7 tombaga, tambaycke, tumbeck, 8 tombago, tambaqua, tumbanck, tambac, 9 tombec, tombak, 8– tombac. [The current form is a. F. tombac (1700 in Hatz.-Darm.) = It. tombacco, Pg. tambaca, Sp. tumbaga, a. Malay tambâga copper.]
An alloy, of East Indian origin, of copper and zinc, in various proportions, containing from 82 to 99 per cent. of copper. Used in the east for gongs or bells; in Europe, under various names, as Prince’s metal, Mannheim gold, etc., as a material for cheap jewelery.
Red tombac, that containing above 92 per cent. of copper. Yellow tombac, that containing 82 to 90 per cent. White tombac, an alloy of copper and arsenic.
1602. Lancaster, Voy. India, in Purchas, Pilgrims (1625), I. III. iii. § 3. 153. All the dishes … were, either of pure Gold, or of another Mettall … called Tambaycke, which groweth of Gold and Brasse together.
1602–5. Scott, Disc. Java, ibid. iv. § 5. 180. Their drummes are huge pannes made of a metall called Tombaga.
1727–41. Chambers, Cycl., Tambac, or Tambaqua, a mixture of gold and copper which the people of Siam hold more beautiful … than gold itself.
1760–72. trans. Juan & Ulloa’s Voy. (ed. 3), I. 121. Round their arms, they [women of Panama] wear bracelets of gold and tombac. Ibid., II. 60. Jewels set in gold, or for singularity sake, in tombago.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, I. 43. Tombac has still more copper, and is of a deeper red than pinchbeck. Ibid., II. 399. Copper combines with five-sixths of arsenic, forming a white, hard, and brittle alloy;… it is called white tombac, and is much used in the manufacture of buttons.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 710. Tombac. 16 lb. of copper, 1 lb. of tin, and 1 lb. of zinc Red Tombac. 51/2 lb. of copper, and 1/2 lb. of zinc…. White Tombac. Copper and Arsenic.
1853. Ure, Dict. Arts, I. 243. Tombak, or Red Brass, in the cast state, is an alloy of copper and zinc, containing not more than 20 per cent. or the latter constituent.
1864–72. Watts, Dict. Chem., II. 47. The most ductile of all the alloys of copper and zinc are those which contain 84.5 per cent. of copper to 15.5 of zinc (tombac), and 71.5 copper to 28.5 zinc (brass)…. Karsten.
† b. A musical instrument made of this. rare.
1662. J. Davies, trans. Mandelslo’s Trav., I. (1669), 30. A Tumbeck, or Timbrel, a Haw-boy, and several Tabours.
c. attrib., as tombac-brown adj.
1796. Kirwan, Elem. Min. (ed. 2), I. 30 (Colours). Tombac brown—metallic yellowish brown.
1811. Pinkerton, Petralogy, I. 194. Granite, with tombac brown mica.
