onyx

English

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Etymology

Before 1300 as onix, in about 1250 as oneche, from Old French oniche or onix, or from Latin onyx, from Greek ὄνυξ (onyx).[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɔnɪks/

Noun

onyx (countable and uncountable; plural onyxes)

  1. (mineralogy) A banded variety of chalcedony, a cryptocrystalline form of quartz.

Translations

Adjective

onyx (not comparable)

  1. jet-black
    • 1611, King James Version of the Bible (Authorized Version)[1], Genesis, 2:12
      And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
    • 1922, Michael Arlen, chapter 3/7/2, “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days[2]:
      There was no moon, only stars set brilliantly in the soft black onyx of the sky : a black night and very silent on Cimiez ; and a black and silent prospect from the verandah []

See also

References

  1. ^ Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, Robert K. Barnhart (ed.), Chambers, 1988

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Last modified on 13 December 2012, at 23:53