emerald
/ˈɛm.(ə.)ɹəld/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.60 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any of various green gemstones, especially a green transparent form of beryl, highly valued as a precious stone.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Any hummingbird in the genera Chlorostilbon and Elvira; and some in the genus Amazilia
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are diamond, ruby and sapphire, emerald and other gem forms of the mineral beryl, chrysoberyl, tanzanite, tsavorite, topaz and jade."
- "16. As the first. Crest, on a Mount Emerald, a Falcon rising Topaz."
- "Crest. On a Wreath, a demi Dragon, Emerald, armed and langued, Roby [...] Supporters. Two Dragons reguardant, Emerald, [...]"
- "Some of the lagoons, said to have subterranean outlets, have no visible ones; the inclosing island, in such cases, being a complete zone of emerald."
- "The insect-queen of eastern spring, / O'er emerald meadows of Kashmeer / Invites the young pursuer near, / And leads him on from flower to flower / A weary chase and wasted hour."
- "The child, a girl, was albino like April, and had exactly April's deep red eyes. Sol and Libra named her Emerald, a green name and a ground-term rather than a sky-term, as if in open expression of the slow spell worked on them all by Viridis."
Etymology
From Middle English emeraude, borrowed from Old French esmeraude, from Vulgar Latin *smaralda, *smaraldus, *smaraudus, variant of Latin smaragdus, from Ancient Greek σμάραγδος (smáragdos), μάραγδος (máragdos), from a Semitic language. Compare Hebrew בָּרֶקֶת (bāréqeṯ, “emerald, flashing gem”), Akkadian 𒁀𒊏𒄣 (baraqu, literally “scintillation”), Arabic بَرْق (barq, literally “flashing”), Egyptian bwyrqꜣ (literally “to sparkle”):D58-Z7-Z4:D21-N29-Z1-G1-D6 and loanwords with Semitic etymon such as Sanskrit मरकत (marakata).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- British usage
- Dated
- Transitive verb
Inflected Forms
emeralds (plural)
more emerald (comparative)
most emerald (superlative)
emeralds (present, singular)
emeralding (participle, present)
emeralded (participle, past)
emeralded (past)