topaz
UK /ˈtəʊˌpæz/ · US /ˈtoʊˌpæz/ noun, adjective, proper noun
Forms topazes toepass topass toupas
- noun A silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine, usually tinted by impurities.
- noun An often clear, yellowish-brown gemstone cut from this.
- noun A yellowish-brown color, like that of the gemstone.
- noun (heraldry) Or (gold or yellow), in blazoning by precious stones.
- noun Either of two species of very large hummingbirds in the genus Topaza.
- noun A ruby-topaz hummingbird, Chrysolampis mosquitus, the male of which has bright ruby feathers on the head and topaz on the throat
- adjective Of a yellowish-brown color, like that of the gemstone.
- noun (historical, British India) A black Catholic soldier in the British Army.
- proper noun (rare) A female given name.
- proper noun A census-designated place in Mono County, California, United States.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Old French topace (compare French topaze), from Ancient Greek τόπαζος (tópazos).
Various theories. Hobson-Jobson mentions as possibilities a corruption of Persian (from Turkish) top-chi, "gunner", or a connection with topee, from the hats they wore.
From the precious stone topaz.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A mineral occurring in rhombic prisms, generally yellowish and pellucid, also colorless, and of greenesh, bluish, or brownish shades. It sometimes occurs massive and opaque. It is a fluosilicate of alumina, and is used as a gem.
- noun Either one of two species of large, brilliantly colored humming birds of the Topaza, of South America and the West Indies.
Etymology [OE. topas, F. topaze, L. topazos, or topazion, a kind of precious stone, Gr. to`pazos, topa`zion; possibly akin to Skr. tap to glow (cf. Tepid). According to some, the name is from Topazos, a small island in the Red Sea, where the Romans obtained a stone which they called by this name, but which is the chrysolite of the moderns.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “topaz”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details