Adjacent Words

Sapphire definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SAP'PHIRE, n. [L. sapphirus; Gr. to scrape, to shine, to be fair, open, beautiful.]
A species of silicious gems or minerals, of several varieties. In hardness it is inferior to the diamond only. Its colors are blue, red, violet, yellow, green, white, or limpid, and one variety is chatoyant, and another asteriated or radiated.
Sapphire is a subspecies of rhomboidal corundum.
The oriental ruby and topaz are sapphires.
Sapphire is employed in jewelry and the arts.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of something having the color of a blue sapphire; "sapphire eyes" n
1: a precious transparent stone of rich blue corundum valued as a gemstone
2: a transparent piece of sapphire that has been cut and polished and is valued as a precious gem
3: a light shade of blue [syn: azure, cerulean, sapphire, lazuline, sky-blue]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English safir, from Anglo-French, from Latin sapphirus, from Greek sappheiros, perhaps of Semitic origin; akin to Hebrew sapp?r sapphire Date: 13th century 1. a. a gem variety of corundum in transparent or translucent crystals of a color other than red; especially one of a transparent rich blue b. a gem of such corundum 2. a deep purplish-blue color • sapphire adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. 1 a transparent blue precious stone consisting of corundum. 2 precious transparent corundum of any colour. 3 the bright blue of a sapphire. 4 a humming-bird with bright blue colouring. --adj. of sapphire blue. Phrases and idioms: sapphire wedding a 45th wedding anniversary. Derivatives: sapphirine adj. Etymology: ME f. OF safir f. L sapphirus f. Gk sappheiros prob. = lapis lazuli

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sapphire Sap"phire (? or ?; 277), n. [OE. saphir, F. saphir, L. sapphirus, Gr. ?, of Oriental origin; cf. Heb. sapp[=i]r.] 1. (Min.) Native alumina or aluminium sesquioxide, Al2O3; corundum; esp., the blue transparent variety of corundum, highly prized as a gem. Of rubies, sapphires, and of pearl['e]s white. --Chaucer. Note: Sapphire occurs in hexagonal crystals and also in granular and massive forms. The name sapphire is usually restricted to the blue crystals, while the bright red crystals are called Oriental rubies (see under Ruby), the amethystine variety Oriental amethyst (see under Amethyst), and the dull massive varieties corundum (a name which is also used as a general term to include all varieties). See Corundum. 2. The color of the gem; bright blue. 3. (Zo["o]l.) Any humming bird of the genus Hylocharis, native of South America. The throat and breast are usually bright blue. Star sapphire, or Asteriated sapphire (Min.), a kind of sapphire which exhibits asterism.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sapphire Sap"phire, a. Of or resembling sapphire; sapphirine; blue. ``The sapphire blaze.'' --Gray.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sapphires) 1. A sapphire is a precious stone which is blue in colour. ...a sapphire engagement ring. N-VAR: oft N n 2. Something that is sapphire is bright blue in colour. (LITERARY) ...white snow and sapphire skies. COLOUR

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Associated with diamonds (Ex. 28:18) and emeralds (Ezek. 28:13); one of the stones in the high priest's breastplate. It is a precious stone of a sky-blue colour, probably the lapis lazuli, brought from Babylon. The throne of God is described as of the colour of a sapphire (Ex. 24:10; comp. Ezek. 1:26).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

saf'-ir.

See STONES, PRECIOUS.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Telesia. II. a. Blue, sapphirine.

Moby Thesaurus

adamant, agate, alexandrite, amethyst, aquamarine, azure, azure-blue, azure-colored, azurean, azured, azureous, beryl, beryl-blue, berylline, bloodstone, blue, bluish, brilliant, carbuncle, carnelian, cerulean, ceruleous, cerulescent, chalcedony, chrysoberyl, chrysolite, citrine, coral, cyanean, dark-blue, deep-blue, demantoid, diamond, emerald, garnet, girasol, harlequin opal, heliotrope, hyacinth, jade, jadestone, jargoon, jasper, lapis lazuli, light-blue, lightish-blue, livid, moonstone, morganite, onyx, opal, pavonian, pavonine, peacock-blue, peridot, plasma, rose quartz, ruby, sapphirine, sard, sardonyx, sky-blue, sky-colored, sky-dyed, spinel, spinel ruby, topaz, turquoise