lapidary
UK /ˈlæpɪdəɹi/ · US /ˈlæpəˌdɛɹi/ noun, adjective
Forms lapidaries
- noun A person who cuts and polishes, engraves, or deals in gems and precious stones.
- noun The field in which such a person works, a subfield of gemology.
- noun An expert in gems and precious stones; a connoisseur of lapidary work.
- noun Gems and precious stones collectively; jewellery.
- noun (except historical) A treatise on (precious) stones.
- adjective Of or pertaining to gems and precious stones, or the art of cutting or otherwise working them.
- adjective Of or pertaining to monumental stones, and particularly to the art of inscribing them.
- adjective (relating to an inscription): engraved on stone.
- adjective Pertaining to a way of speaking which is circumlocutional, is excessively precise, and is multifaceted in the construction of propositions.
- adjective Of a piece of writing or a writing style: characteristic of or suitable for an inscription; embodying the precision and refinement of inscriptions on monuments; concise and stately.
- adjective (archaic, rare) Of or pertaining to stones in general.
- adjective (of speech or writing, uncommon) Succinct, laconic.
Synonyms
gemsmith lapidarist lapidist gemmologist gemologist brief concise crisp laconic short-winded succinct tight to the point taut terse
Antonyms
circumlocutory diffuse periphrastic palaverous pleonastic prolix rigmarole sesquipedalian verbose wordy
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English lapidari, lapidarie (“person who cuts, polishes, or engraves precious stones; expert in precious stones; treatise on precious stones”) [and other forms], from Old French lapidaire (“gemsmith, lapidary”) (modern French lapidaire), or from its etymon Latin lapidārius (“(adjective) of stones, stony; (noun) stonecutter”), from lapidis (the genitive singular of lapis (“stone; (poetic) jewel, precious stone”), possibly from Pre-Greek or Proto-Indo-European *lep- (“to peel”)) + -ārius (suffix forming adjectives).
Noun senses 3.2 (“jewellery”) and 3.3 (“treatise on precious stones”) are derived from Latin lapidāria or lapidārium, a noun use of the neuter plural or genitive plural respectively of lapidāris (“of stone”, adjective), from lapidis (the genitive singular of lapis; see above) + -āris (suffix forming adjectives).
The stone-referent adjective is either:
* a learned borrowing from Latin lapidārius (adjective); or
* derived from the noun.
Adjective sense 6 (“succint”) is by metaphor: the speaker or writer has cut and polished their locution, as it were.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An artificer who cuts, polishes, and engraves precious stones; hence, a dealer in precious stones.
- noun A virtuoso skilled in gems or precious stones; a connoisseur of lapidary work. Lapidary's lathe, mill, or wheel, a machine consisting essentially of a revolving lap on a vertical spindle, used by a lapidary for grinding and polishing.
- adjective Of or pertaining to the art of cutting stones, or engraving on stones, either gems or monuments; as, lapidary ornamentation.
- adjective Of or pertaining to monumental inscriptions; as, lapidary adulation. Lapidary style, that style which is proper for monumental and other inscriptions; terse; sententious.
Etymology [L. lapidarius, fr. lapidarius pertaining to stone: cf. F. lapidaire.]
Etymology [L. lapidarius pertaining to stone: cf. F. lapidaire.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “lapidary”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details