chatoyant
/ʃəˈtɔɪ.ənt/ adjective, noun
Forms chatoyants
- adjective (jewelry) Having a certain optical reflectance effect, which can be likened to the sheen of a spool of silk. “chatoyant effect”
- noun (mineralogy) A hard stone, such as the cat's-eye, which presents on a polished surface, and in the interior, an undulating or wavy light.
Synonyms
Etymology
From French chatoyant, present participle of chatoyer (“to iridesce, like a cat's eye”), from chat (“cat”, because of the reflective qualities of a cat's eye).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having a changeable, varying luster, or color, like that of a changeable silk, or oa a cat's eye in the dark.
- noun A hard stone, as the cat's-eye, which presents on a polished surface, and in the interior, an undulating or wary light.
Etymology [F., p. pr. of chatoyer to be chatoyant, fr. chat cat.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chatoyant”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details