beryl definition | Dictionary.com

ber⋅yl

[ber-uh

–noun

a mineral, beryllium aluminum silicate, Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈, usually green, but also blue, rose, white, and golden, and both opaque and transparent, the latter variety including the gems emerald and aquamarine: the principal ore of beryllium.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME beril (< AF) < LL bērillus, L bēryllus < Gk b

ryllos

Related forms:

ber⋅yl⋅ine [ber-uh-lin, -lahyn]

, adjective

Ber⋅yl

[ber-il]

–noun

a female given name.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To beryl

ber·yl (běr'əl)

n. A transparent to translucent glassy mineral, essentially aluminum beryllium silicate, Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈, occurring in hexagonal prisms and constituting the chief source of beryllium. Transparent varieties in white, green, blue, yellow, or pink are valued as gems.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin bēryllus, from Greek bērullos, from bērullion, from Prakrit veruliya, from Pali veḷuriya; perhaps akin to Tamil veḷiru or viḷar, to whiten, become pale.]
ber'yl·line (-ə-lĭn, -līn') adj.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Beryl

Ber"yl\ (b[e^]r"[i^]l), n. [F. b['e]ryl, OF. beril, L. beryllus, Gr. bh`ryllos, prob. fr. Skr. vai[dsdot][=u]rya. Cf. Brilliant.] (Min.) A mineral of great hardness, and, when transparent, of much beauty. It occurs in hexagonal prisms, commonly of a green or bluish green color, but also yellow, pink, and white. It is a silicate of aluminium and glucinum (beryllium). The aquamarine is a transparent, sea-green variety used as a gem. The emerald is another variety highly prized in jewelry, and distinguished by its deep color, which is probably due to the presence of a little oxide of chromium.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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beryl

"hard, lustrous mineral," c.1305, from O.Fr. beryl, from L. beryllus, from Gk. beryllos, from Prakrit veruliya, from Skt. vaidurya-, of Dravidian origin, perhaps from the city of Velur (modern Belur) in southern India. M.L. berillus was applied also to crystal and to eyeglasses (the first spectacle lenses may have been made of beryl), hence Ger. Brille "spectacles," from M.H.G. berille "beryl," and Fr. besicles (pl.) "spectacles," altered from O.Fr. bericle.

beryl (běr'əl) Pronunciation Key
A usually green or bluish-green hexagonal mineral occurring as transparent to translucent prisms in igneous and metamorphic rocks. Transparent varieties, such as emeralds and aquamarine, are valued as gems. Beryl is the main source of the element beryllium. Chemical formula: Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈.

Beryl

the rendering in the Authorized Version of the Hebrew word _tarshish_, a precious stone; probably so called as being brought from Tarshish. It was one of the stones on the breastplate of the high priest (Ex. 28:20; R.V. marg., "chalcedony;" 39:13). The colour of the wheels in Ezekiel's vision was as the colour of a beryl stone (1:16; 10:9; R.V., "stone of Tarshish"). It is mentioned in Cant. 5:14; Dan. 10:6; Rev. 21:20. In Ezek. 28:13 the LXX. render the word by "chrysolite," which the Jewish historian Josephus regards as its proper translation. This also is the rendering given in the Authorized Version in the margin. That was a gold-coloured gem, the topaz of ancient authors.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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