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Origin and history of sapphire

sapphire(n.)

precious stone, a blue-to-transparent variety of corundum next in hardness to diamond, mid-13c., saphyr, from Old French saphir (12c.) and directly from Latin sapphirus (source also of Spanish zafir, Italian zaffiro), from Greek sappheiros, name of a blue precious stone, from a Semitic source (compare Hebrew sappir "sapphire"), but according to OED probably not ultimately from Semitic.

Some linguists propose an origin in Sanskrit sanipriya, a dark precious stone (perhaps sapphire or emerald), literally "sacred to Saturn," from Sani "Saturn" + priyah "precious." The gem meant by the Greeks apparently was not the one now so called, but perhaps rather lapis lazuli, the modern sapphire perhaps being signified by Greek hyakinthos. In Renaissance lapidaries, it was said to cure anger and stupidity. As an adjective from early 15c. As a color, a deep brilliant or bright blue, by 1680s. Related: Sapphiric.

also from mid-13c.

Entries linking to sapphire

sapphirine(adj.)

early 15c., "sapphire-colored," later also "made of sapphire, having the qualities of sapphire," from Latin sapphirinus, from Greek sappheirinos, from sappheiros (see sapphire (n.)).

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    azure
    "sky-blue color; pigment or paint made of powdered lapis lazuli," early 14c., from Old French azur, asur, a color name (12c.), from a false separation of Medieval Latin lazur, lazuri (as though the -l- were the French article l'), which comes from Greek lazour, from Persian lajwa
    cerulean
    "sky-colored, sky-blue," 1660s, with -an + Latin caeruleus "blue, dark blue, blue-green," perhaps from a dissimilation of caelulum, diminutive of caelum "heaven, sky," which is of uncertain origin (see celestial). The Latin word was applied by Roman authors to the sky, the Medite
    topaz
    To the Greeks and Romans, possibly yellow olivine or yellow sapphire. In modern science, fluo-silicate of aluminum....
    hyacinth
    Used in ancient Greece of a blue gem, perhaps sapphire, and of a purple or deep red flower, but exactly which one is unknown...
    adamant
    Applied in antiquity to a metal resembling gold (Plato), white sapphire (Pliny), magnet (Ovid, perhaps through confusion...
    gem
    "a precious stone" (especially when cut or polished), c. 1300, probably from Old French gemme (12c.), from Latin gemma "precious stone, jewel," originally "bud," from Proto-Italic *gebma- "bud, sprout," from PIE *geb-m- "sprout, bud" (source also of Lithuanian žembėti "to germina
    blue
    "of the color of the clear sky," c. 1300, bleu, blwe, etc., "sky-colored," also "livid, lead-colored," from Old French blo, bleu "pale, pallid, wan, light-colored; blond; discolored; blue, blue-gray," from Frankish *blao or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *blæwaz
    jewel
    late 13c., "article of value used for adornment," from Anglo-French juel, Old French jouel "ornament; present; gem, jewel" (12c.), which is perhaps [Watkins] from Medieval Latin jocale, from Latin jocus "pastime, sport," in Vulgar Latin "that which causes joy" (see joke (n.)). An
    Laurence
    masc. proper name, from Old French Lorenz (French Laurent), from Latin Laurentius, literally "of Laurentum," a maritime town in Latium, the name of which means literally "town of bay trees," from laurus (see laurel). The Italian form is Lorenzo. A popular given name in the Middle
    microphone
    1680s, "ear trumpet for the hard-of-hearing," coined from Greek mikros "small" (see micro-) + phōnē "sound," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say." The notion is "instrument for augmenting small sounds." Modern sense of "transducer that converts sound into an electrical s

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