Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A purple or violet form of transparent quartz used as a gemstone.
- noun A purple variety of corundum used as a gemstone.
- noun A moderate purple to grayish reddish purple.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A trade-name for certain artificial dyes of the azine class, as tetramethyl safranine and tetra-amyl safranine.
- noun A violet-blue or purple variety of quartz, the color being perhaps due to the presence of peroxid of iron.
- noun In heraldry, the color purple when described in blazoning a nobleman's escutcheon. See
tincture . - noun The name of a humming-bird, Calliphlox amethystina.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- (Min.) A variety of crystallized quartz, of a purple or bluish violet color, of different shades. It is much used as a jeweler's stone.
- the violet-blue variety of transparent crystallized corundum or sapphire.
- (Her.) A purple color in a nobleman's escutcheon, or coat of arms.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
transparent purple variety ofquartz , used as agemstone . - noun uncountable A
purple colour . - noun heraldry The purple
tincture whenemblazoning thearms of the Englishnobility . - adjective Having a
colour similar to that of the gemstone
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective of a moderate purple color
- noun a transparent purple variety of quartz; used as a gemstone
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In the distance are the White-cloud hills, which were painted softly in amethyst on a tender green sky, and nearer are some rocky hills, which are red at all hours of daylight.
The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither Isabella Lucy 1883
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Then we have the "amethyst" sapphire, which varies from a red to a blue purple, being richer in colour than the ordinary amethyst, which is a form of violet-coloured quartz, but the corundum variety, which, like its companions, is called the "oriental" amethyst, is both rarer and more precious.
The Chemistry, Properties and Tests of Precious Stones John Mastin
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Lyra is wonderful as an independent prospector who learns from being burned; while intriguingly he does not regrets his actions but is burned more so as his obsidian and her amethyst is a fiery PSI heart and soul matching .
Obsidian Prey-Jayne Castle « The Merry Genre Go Round Reviews 2009
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Purple quartz is known as amethyst; white is milky quartz; black is smoky quartz; pink is rose quartz, and yellow or orange is citrine.
Quartz 2008
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Perhaps the compromise of the customary amethyst, which is now most popularly used, for Episcopal rings, being a combination of the blue and the red, may typify a blending of more human qualities!
Arts and Crafts in the Middle Ages A Description of Mediaeval Workmanship in Several of the Departments of Applied Art, Together with Some Account of Special Artisans in the Early Renaissance Julia de Wolf Gibbs Addison
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The amethyst is a precious stone, clear and translucent, with a colour inclining to purple.
Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Literature Ontario. Ministry of Education
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The amethyst is a brilliant transparent stone of a purple colour resembling that of diluted wine and varying in shade from the violet purple to rose.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 14: Simony-Tournon 1840-1916 1913
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The Greek name alludes to the popular belief that the amethyst was a preventive of intoxication; hence beakers were made of amethyst for carousals, and inveterate drinkers wore amulets made of it to counteract the action of wine.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 14: Simony-Tournon 1840-1916 1913
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In Greek this sound happens to mean "not intoxicated"; hence, without more ado, the ancients declared that the amethyst was a preventive of, and a cure for, drunkenness.
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It is most probable that the stone described by Marco Polo was not a ruby, but an amethyst, which is found in large crystals in Ceylon, and which modern mineralogists believe to be the "hyacinth" of the ancients.
Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History, Antiquities and Productions, Volume 1 (of 2) James Emerson Tennent 1836
sonofgroucho commented on the word amethyst
For example, see here.
April 14, 2007
vendingmachine commented on the word amethyst
Interesting etymology. From Greek amethustos, not drunk or intoxicating. The Greeks believed that amethyst prevented intoxication.
July 10, 2016