jasper

1
[ jas-per ]

noun
  1. a compact, opaque, cryptocrystalline variety of quartz, usually colored red: often used in decorative carvings.

  2. Also called jasper ware, cameo ware. a fine, hard stoneware introduced c1775 by Wedgwood, stained various colors by metallic oxides, with raised designs in white.

Origin of jasper

1
1300–50; Middle English jaspe, jaspre<Middle French; Old French jaspe<Latin iaspis<Greek iáspis<Semitic; compare Arabic yashb

Words Nearby jasper

Other definitions for jasper (2 of 3)

jasper2
[ jas-per ]

nounOlder Slang.
  1. a fellow; guy.

Origin of jasper

2
1895–1900, Americanism; special use of proper name Jasper

Other definitions for Jasper (3 of 3)

Jasper
[ jas-per ]

noun
  1. a city in NW Alabama.

  2. a resort town in SW Alberta, in SW Canada, on the Athabasca River: headquarters for Jasper National Park.

  1. a male given name, form of Caspar.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use jasper in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for jasper

jasper

/ (ˈdʒæspə) /


noun
  1. an opaque impure microcrystalline form of quartz, red, yellow, brown, or dark green in colour, used as a gemstone and for ornamental decoration

  2. Also called: jasper ware a dense hard stoneware, invented in 1775 by Wedgwood, capable of being stained throughout its substance with metallic oxides and used as background for applied classical decoration

Origin of jasper

1
C14: from Old French jaspe, from Latin jaspis, from Greek iaspis, of Semitic origin; related to Assyrian ashpū, Arabic yashb, Hebrew yāshpheh

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for jasper

jasper

[ jăspər ]


  1. A reddish, brown, or yellow variety of chert. Jasper usually occurs in association with iron ores and contains iron impurities that give it its color.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.