emerald

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English emeraude, borrowed from Old French esmeraude, from Vulgar Latin *smaralda, *smaraldus, *smaraudus, variant of Latin smaragdus, from Ancient Greek σμάραγδος (smáragdos), μάραγδος (máragdos), from a Semitic language. Compare Hebrew בָּרֶקֶת (bāréqeṯ, “emerald, flashing gem”), Akkadian 𒁀𒊏𒄣 (baraqu, literally “scintillation”), Arabic بَرْق (barq, literally “flashing”), Egyptian bwyrqꜣ (literally “to sparkle”): and loanwords with Semitic etymon such as Sanskrit मरकत (marakata). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈɛm.(ə.)ɹəld/ === Noun === emerald (countable and uncountable, plural emeralds) Any of various green gemstones, especially a green transparent form of beryl, highly valued as a precious stone. Emerald green, a colour. (heraldry) Vert, when blazoning by precious stones. Any hummingbird in the genera Chlorostilbon and Elvira; and some in the genus Amazilia (entomology) Any of various species of dragonfly of the family Corduliidae. (dated, printing, UK) A size of type between nonpareil and minion, standardized as 6½-point. ==== Synonyms ==== (gemstone): smaragd (obsolete) (type size, US): minionette ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== → Japanese: エメラルド (emerarudo) → Korean: 에메랄드 (emeraldeu) → Welsh: emrald, emrallt ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === emerald (comparative more emerald, superlative most emerald) Of a rich green colour. ==== Translations ==== === Verb === emerald (third-person singular simple present emeralds, present participle emeralding, simple past and past participle emeralded) (transitive, poetic) To ornament with, or as if with, emeralds; to make green. === Related terms === smaragd smaragdine === See also === beryl === Further reading === David Barthelmy (1997–2026), “Emerald”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database. “emerald”, in Mindat.org‎[2], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2026.