patina

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian patina, from Latin patina (“dish, pan”), itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek πατάνη (patánē), either from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread”) or from Pre-Greek. Doublet of paten, patena, and patine.

noun

1. (originally) A paten, flat type of dish.
2. The colour or incrustation which age and wear give to (mainly metallic) objects; especially, the green rust which covers works of art such as ancient bronzes, coins and medals.
3. (color) A green colour, tinted with grey, like that of bronze patina.
   patina:
4. (figurative) A gloss or superficial layer.
   he enjoys a patina of respect by the police, despite being an ex-criminal
   It demonstrates how scientific authority could be constructed on the fly, as it were, by someone with no connections and no psychological credentials who offered a technique that had the patina of modern science[…] 2012, Alison Winter, Memory: Fragments of a Modern History

adj

1. Of a green colour, tinted with grey, like that of bronze patina.