Cristal

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A borrowed word for crystal or high-quality transparent glass, used mainly in French and Spanish contexts
2. The French and Spanish term for crystal, referring to clear, finely made glass or a transparent mineral
3. A foreign term meaning crystal, denoting clear glassware or a glittering transparent solid in those languages

Etymology: The Greek word "krustallos" originally meant "clear ice," a name built from "kruos," meaning frost. Ancient Greeks believed rock crystal was ice that had frozen so hard it would never melt, so the substance was named for frozen water before anyone thought of it as a mineral. Latin borrowed the word as "crystallum," and from there it passed into Old French and Anglo-Norman as "cristal." English took the word in two directions at once. Old English had already adopted the Latin form as "cristalla," while Anglo-Norman speakers brought in the French version, and in Middle English the two merged into forms such as "cristal" and "crystal." The spelling "cristal" was once common, and it survives today only as an obsolete variant of "crystal," which is now the standard form.

Synonyms: glass, quartz