Damascene
/ˈdaməsiːn
/ /ˌdaməˈsiːn /adjective
1Relating to the city of Damascus: a Damascene geographer...
- The fate of Aleppo rested heavy on Damascene minds and the citizens drove Al-Nasir out of the city, then sent their unconditional surrender to the advancing Mongols.
- The monastery sits on a great crag of rock overlooking the orchards and olive groves of the Damascene plain, and at first sight, with its narrow windows and great rugged curtain walls, looks more like a Crusader castle than a convent.
- It is gratifying that Bassam Tibi, a leading scholar of Damascene origin, has republished his seminal work on fundamentalism in the wake of September 2001.
2Used in reference to an important moment of insight, typically one that leads to a dramatic transformation of attitude or belief: in light of his recent statements, it would appear that Fisher has undergone something of a Damascene conversion was there a Damascene moment, when he knew he had to turn his attention to politics?...
- Our more recent encounter was over all too quickly, but even that Damascene moment has had a wider impact.
- ‘I won't say I had a Damascene revelation, but the seed was sown and I began to explore the world of kidney transplantation,’ Pat wrote to her friends.
- He doesn't elucidate but it led him to his Damascene moment - or rather Damascene month.
From the account of St Paul's conversion to Christianity while travelling to Damascus on a mission (Acts 9). See also road to Damascus
3 historical Relating to Damascus steel or its manufacture: a fine Damascene blade...
- He also has the finest collection of Meiji art outside Japan, as well as Spanish damascene metalwork and Swedish textiles.
- ‘Dressed in Moorish djellabas and wielding damascene scimitars, they made a terrifying sight,’ writes popular historian Giles Milton.
4 (often damascene) Relating to or denoting a process of inlaying a metal object with gold or silver decoration: elaborate Damascene dishes...
- The team used a conventional damascene process to deposit the copper metal in the grooves of a dielectric material carried on 250 mm wafers.
- The oxidized organo silane film can also be used as an etch stop or an intermetal dielectric layer for fabricating dual damascene structures.
- The displacement material is removed from a top surface of the insulating layer surrounding the damascene conductive region, and the semiconductor device is placed in a solution.
noun
A native or inhabitant of Damascus.The world is changing around us, but we, Damascenes, Syrians, Sunnis, ‘Alawis, Muslims, Christians, Arabs, Kurds, Circassians, or however we define ourselves these days, including perhaps heretics, can't feel any hope in that....
- Like other peoples of the Mediterranean region, Damascenes favored a relatively dramatic style of self-presentation which made plenty of allowance for swearing and other flamboyant forms of expression.
- In March 1140, Unur sought alliance with Fulk of Jerusalem, leading to a battle in which Damascenes and Christians fought together against the Turk Zengi.
Origin
Late Middle English (as a noun): via Latin from Greek Damaskēnos 'of Damascus'.