Zircon

//ˈzɜː(ɹ)kən// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A mineral occurring in tetragonal crystals, usually of a brown or grey colour and consisting of silica and zirconia. uncountable

    "[…] salamanders, mermaids, chimaeras, wild men o’ the woods, leviathans, all hewn from faultless gems, thrice the bulk of a big man’s body, velvet-dark sapphires, chrysolite, beryl, amethyst, and the yellow zircon that is like transparent gold."

  2. 2
    a common mineral occurring in small crystals; chief source of zirconium; used as a refractory when opaque and as a gem when transparent wordnet
  3. 3
    A crystal of zircon, sometimes used as a false gemstone. countable

    "A zircon princess, seemed to lost her senses"

Etymology

From German Zirkon, possibly via French zircon, formed in the 1780s from Arabic زَرْقُون (zarqūn). Doublet of jargoon.

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