Meanings
plural sardonyxes
- countableuncountableA gemstone having bands of red sard; a variety of onyx or chalcedony.
The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 21:202 more examples
The large chalice at right is carved from a single chunk of sardonyx, a kind of onyx. Its gilded rim and base are decorated with tiny enamels depicting a host of popular saints, including Nicephorus (farthest left on rim), a Ninth Century patriarch and opponent of a religious movement to destroy icons.
1980, Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians, page 40I was wondering at these hanging gardens amid the forest of pink and white marble, red sardonyx, blue-gray, and cream, and black bricks, and green and yellow and tyrian tiles, when the sight of a lansquenet guarding the entrance to a casern reminded me of the promise I had made the officer of the peltasts the night before.
1980, Gene Wolfe, chapter XVI, in The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun; 1), New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 151
Origin
- Ancient Greekσᾰρδόνῠξ
- Latinsardonyx
- Middle Englishsardonix, sardonyx
- Englishsardonyx
Inherited from Middle English sardonix, sardonyx (c. 1382), from Latin sardonyx, from Ancient Greek σᾰρδόνῠξ (sărdónŭx). Doublet of sardoin.
More words from Middle English, Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek σαρδόνυξ
- σαρδόνυξ (sardónux)gemstone banded with red sard
Catalan sardònix
- sardònixgemstone banded with red sard
Chinese Mandarin 纏絲瑪瑙 /缠丝玛瑙
- 纏絲瑪瑙 /缠丝玛瑙 (chánsī mǎnǎo)gemstone banded with red sard
Danish sardonyks
- sardonyksgemstone banded with red sard
Estonian sardoonüks
- sardoonüksgemstone banded with red sard
Finnish sardonyksi
- sardonyksigemstone banded with red sard
French sardoine
- sardoinegemstone banded with red sard
German Sardonyx
- Sardonyxgemstone banded with red sard
Greek σαρδόνυχας
- σαρδόνυχας (sardónychas)gemstone banded with red sard
Hungarian szardonix
- szardonixgemstone banded with red sard
Irish sardoinisc
- sardoiniscgemstone banded with red sard
Italian sardonice
- sardonicegemstone banded with red sard
Japanese サードニックス, サードニクス
- サードニックス (sādonikkusu)gemstone banded with red sard
- サードニクス (sādonikusu)gemstone banded with red sard
Latin sardonyx
- sardonyxgemstone banded with red sard
Latvian sardonikss
- sardonikssgemstone banded with red sard
Lithuanian sardoniksas
- sardoniksasgemstone banded with red sard
Māori hararonika
- hararonikagemstone banded with red sard
Polish sardonyks, sardonik
- sardonyksgemstone banded with red sard
- sardonikgemstone banded with red sard
Romanian sardonix
- sardonixgemstone banded with red sard
Russian сардони́кс
- сардони́кс (sardoníks)gemstone banded with red sard
Spanish sardónix, sardónice
- sardónixgemstone banded with red sard
- sardónicegemstone banded with red sard
- sardónicagemstone banded with red sard
Welsh sardonics
- sardonicsgemstone banded with red sard
Yiddish סאַרדאָניקס
- סאַרדאָניקס (sardoniks)gemstone banded with red sard
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with sardonyx
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
sardonyx. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sardonyx
“sardonyx.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sardonyx. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sardonyx,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sardonyx.
Source: sardonyx on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.