emerald

plural emeralds

1. countableuncountableAny of various green gemstones, especially a green transparent form of beryl, highly valued as a precious stone.

   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.

   2012 March 28, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2012, page 128

   Synonyms: smaragd

2. countableuncountableEmerald green, a colour.
3. countableuncountablegovernmentVert, when blazoning by precious stones.

   16. As the first. Crest, on a Mount Emerald, a Falcon rising Topaz.

   1726, John Guillim, The Banner Display'd, page 504

   2 more examples

   Crest. On a Wreath, a demi Dragon, Emerald, armed and langued, Roby [...] Supporters. Two Dragons reguardant, Emerald, [...]

   1754, John Lodge, The Peerage of Ireland; Or, a Genealogical History of the ..., page 212

   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.

   1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC

4. countableuncountableAny hummingbird in the genera Chlorostilbon and Elvira; and some in the genus Amazilia
5. countableuncountablebiologyAny of various species of dragonfly of the family Corduliidae.
6. UKcountabledateduncountablemediaA size of type between nonpareil and minion, standardized as 6½-point.

   Synonyms: minionette

comparative more emerald · superlative most emerald

1. Of a rich green colour.

   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.

   1813, Lord Byron, The Giaour

present singular third person emeralds · participle present emeralding · participle past emeralded · past emeralded

1. poetictransitiveTo ornament with, or as if with, emeralds; to make green.

1. A town in Queensland, Australia.
2. A town in the Shire of Cardinia and the Shire of Yarra Ranges, central Victoria, Australia
3. A rural municipality in eastern Saskatchewan, Canada; in full, the Rural Municipality of Emerald No. 277.
4. rareA female given name from English.

   Mrs. Emerald Walsh was helping out at the presbytery.

   1978, Mary Manning, The last chronicles of Ballyfungus, page 48

   1 more example

   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.

   1954 Theodore Sturgeon, The Golden Helix, in Leo Marguelis:Three Times Infinity, Fawcett Publications 1958, page 109