English Explanatory Dictionary

sapphire

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A clear deep blue variety of corundum, valued as a precious stone.
  2. A white, yellow, or purple variety of corundum, either clear or translucent.
  3. A deep blue colour.
  4. Azure, when blazoning by precious stones.
  5. Any hummingbird in the genera Hylocharis and Chlorestes, as well as the rufous-throated sapphire, which is now in the genus Amazilia.
  6. Any of the butterflies in the southern Asian lycaenid genus Heliophorus or the African lycaenid genus Iolaus.
adj
  1. of a deep blue colour.
  2. pertaining to a 45th year
name
  1. A female given name from English from the precious stone.
  2. A locality in the Inverell council area, north eastern New South Wales, Australia.
noun
  1. A stereotype of an aggressive and domineering black woman.

Pronunciation

/ˈsæf.aɪ̯ə/ /ˈsæf.aɪ̯əɹ/ En-us-sapphire.ogg

Word forms

sapphire sapphires more sapphire most sapphire

Etymology

From Middle English saphir, from Old French saphir, from Latin sapphir, sappir, sapphīrus, from Ancient Greek σάπφειρος (sáppheiros, “precious stone, gem”), from a Semitic language such as Hebrew סַפִּיר (sappī́r, “lapis lazuli”), originally from Assyrian Akkadian šipirtu (“lapis lazuli”).

Related words

corundum Sapphire Sapphira

Derived words

blue-chinned sapphire blue-throated sapphire Padparadscha sapphire pink sapphire Sapphire Beach sapphireberry sapphired sapphire glass sapphirelike sapphiric sapphirine sea sapphire star sapphire water sapphire white sapphire yellow sapphire sapphire anniversary sapphire jubilee

Translations

Arabic: يَاقُوت Finnish: safiiri Greek: σάπφειρος Hindi: याकूत Hindi: याक़ूत Hindi: नीलम Hindi: नीलमणि Hindi: इंद्रनील Hindi: कुरुविंद Japanese: サファイア Middle English: saphir Occitan: safir Spanish: zafiro Thai: ไพลิน Thai: นิลกาฬ Turkish: safir Ukrainian: сапфі́р
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