an impure variety of marble with alternate white and greenish zones and a layered structure.
Origin: 1790–1800; < French < Italian cipollino, equivalent to cipoll(a) onion (< Late Latin cēpulla, equivalent to Latin cēp(a) onion + -ulla diminutive suffix) + -ino-ine1
an Italian marble with alternating white and green streaks
[C18: from French, from Italian cipollino a little onion, from cipolla onion, from Late Latin cēpulla, diminutive of Latin cēpa onion; from its likeness to the layers of an onion]