sapphire

English Online Dictionary. What means sapphire‎? What does sapphire mean?

English

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 (compare Hebrew סַפִּיר (sappī́r)), perhaps ultimately from a non-Semitic source such as Sanskrit शनिप्रिय (śanipriya, “dark-colored stone”, literally “dear to Saturn”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsæf.aɪ̯ə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsæf.aɪ̯ɚ/
• Hyphenation: sap‧phire

Noun

sapphire (countable and uncountable, plural sapphires)

1. (countable) A clear deep blue variety of corundum, valued as a precious stone.
2. (countable and uncountable) A white, yellow, or purple variety of corundum, either clear or translucent.
3. (countable and uncountable) A deep blue colour.

4. (heraldry) Azure, when blazoning by precious stones.
5. (countable) 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.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Tokelauan: hafaila
• → Welsh: saffir

Translations

See also

• corundum

Adjective

sapphire (comparative more sapphire, superlative most sapphire)

1. of a deep blue colour.
2. pertaining to a 45th year

Derived terms

(45 years):

• sapphire anniversary
• sapphire jubilee

Translations

See also

• (blues) blue; Alice blue, aqua, aquamarine, azure, baby blue, beryl, bice, bice blue, blue green, blue violet, blueberry, cadet blue, Cambridge blue, cerulean, cobalt blue, Copenhagen blue, cornflower, cornflower blue, cyan, dark blue, Dodger blue, duck-egg blue, eggshell blue, electric blue, gentian blue, ice blue, lapis lazuli, light blue, lovat, mazarine, midnight blue, navy, Nile blue, Oxford blue, peacock blue, petrol blue, powder blue, Prussian blue, robin's-egg blue, royal blue, sapphire, saxe blue, slate blue, sky blue, teal, turquoise, ultramarine, Wedgwood blue, zaffre ^{(Category: en:Blues)}
• Sapphire

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Sapphire”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “sapphire”, in Mindat.org‎^[2], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.

Anagrams

• paperish, papisher

Latin

Noun

sapphīre f

1. vocative singular of sapphīrus

References

• “sapphire”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers