βαφή βάπτω a dipping of red-hot iron in water, the temper produced thereby, Arist. a dipping in dye, dyeing, dye, Aesch., Plat., etc.; κρόκου βαφαί the saffron- dyed robe, Aesch.; βαφαὶ ὕδρας the robe dipped in the hydraʼs blood, Eur. χαλκοῦ βαφαί, in Aesch., is prob. the art of tempering brass, to express something which no woman could know. in Soph. Aj., βαφῆι σίδηρος ὥς must be construed not with ἐθηλύνθην, but with the preceding words καρτερὸς γενόμενος, for iron becomes harder, not softer, by being dipped.