Emerald

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɛm.(ə.)ɹəld/

Definitions

1. A precious gemstone that is green in color, typically composed of beryllium aluminum silicate and valued for jewelry and ornamental purposes
2. A vibrant green precious stone prized for use in jewelry and decorative objects, formed from a mineral containing beryllium and aluminum
3. A precious gemstone displaying a deep green hue, highly valued in jewelry for its clarity and brilliance, composed of beryl mineral enriched with chromium or vanadium

Etymology: The stone's name has travelled a long way from the Near East, and its most surprising link is to lightning. Several Semitic languages used words built on the idea of flashing or sparkling for this gem: Hebrew "bāréqeṯ" meant something like "flashing gem," and Akkadian "baraqu" literally meant "scintillation." Arabic "barq," meaning "flashing," belongs to the same family, so the stone was named for its brilliance rather than its colour. Ancient Greeks borrowed the idea as "smáragdos," which went into Latin as "smaragdus." Over the centuries Vulgar Latin speakers reshaped it into forms like "smaralda," and Old French turned that into "esmeraude." Middle English took the French word as "emeraude," and the initial "s" was dropped along the way, leaving the modern spelling "emerald" to settle in later.

Synonyms: green, gem, stone