shell-lac

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Shellac \Shel"lac`\, Shell-lac \Shell"-lac`\, n. [Shell + lac a resinous substance; cf. D. shellak, G. schellack.]

1.Lac which has been reduced to a thin crust. See the Note under 2d Lac. [1913 Webster]

2.A solution of shellac[1] in alcohol or other volatile solvent, used as a varnish. [PJC]

3.A phonograph record, made of a material containing shellac; -- no longer manufactured. [Obsolescent] --RHUD [PJC]

Lac \Lac\, n. [Per. lak; akin to Skr. l[=a]ksh[=a]: cf. F. lague, It. & NL. lacca. Cf. Lake a color, Lacquer, Litmus.] A resinous substance produced mainly on the banyan tree, but to some extent on other trees, by the Laccifer lacca (formerly Coccus lacca), a scale-shaped insect, the female of which fixes herself on the bark, and exudes from the margin of her body this resinous substance. [1913 Webster]

Note: Stick-lac is the substance in its natural state, incrusting small twigs. When broken off, and the coloring matter partly removed, the granular residuum is called seed-lac. When melted, and reduced to a thin crust, it is called shell-lac or shellac. Lac is an important ingredient in sealing wax, dyes, varnishes, and lacquers. [1913 Webster]

Ceylon lac, a resinous exudation of the tree Croton lacciferum, resembling lac.

Lac dye, a scarlet dye obtained from stick-lac.

Lac lake, the coloring matter of lac dye when precipitated from its solutions by alum.

Mexican lac, an exudation of the tree Croton Draco. [1913 Webster]