Lazuli

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A deep blue semi-precious stone, often with golden flecks, historically used in jewelry and pigments
2. A deep blue gemstone characterized by its rich azure color and occasional pyrite inclusions, valued since antiquity for decorative and artistic applications
3. A semi-precious mineral of intense blue hue, frequently containing golden metallic specks, prized historically for ornamental and pigmentary purposes

Etymology: The blue of "lazuli" comes from a stone that was prized long before English had a name for it. Its ancestor is the Persian "lâjvard", the name of the mineral lapis lazuli, which passed into Arabic as "lāzuward" and then into Medieval Latin as "lazulum", meaning both the stone and the colour of the sky. Medieval Latin speakers paired it with "lapis", meaning "stone", to form "lapis lazulī", and English borrowed that full phrase in the Middle Ages. English later shortened the phrase, and "lazuli" alone now refers to the deep blue of the stone. The same Persian-Arabic source also gave English "azure", so the two words are close relatives that took different routes into the language.

Synonyms: lapis, blue stone