Meanings
plural turquoises · alternative archaic Turkies
- countableA sky-blue, greenish-blue, or greenish-gray semi-precious gemstone.
Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)
2012 March 28, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2012, page 128 - countableuncountableA pale greenish-blue colour, like that of the gemstone.
The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. To display them the walls had been tinted a vivid blue which had now faded, but the carpet, which had evidently been stored and recently relaid, retained its original turquoise.
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
comparative more turquoise · superlative most turquoise · alternative archaic Turkies
- Made of turquoise (the gemstone).
- Having a pale greenish-blue colour.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna shade of blue tinged with green
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old French(pierre) turquoise“Turkish (stone)”
- Middle Frenchturquoise
- Englishturquoise
From Middle French turquoise, from Old French (pierre) turquoise (“Turkish (stone)”), from turc + -ois. The stone, mined near Nishapur in the Khorasan region of Persia, was originally brought to Europe through Turkey. Doublet of Turkish. Compare typologically copper (<< Ancient Greek Κύπρος (Kúpros, “Cyprus”)).
More words from Middle French, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κάλαϊς, καλάϊνος
- κάλαϊς (kálaïs)gemstone
- καλάϊνος (kaláïnos)having a pale greenish-blue colour
Arabic فَيْرُوزِيّ, فَيْرُوز
- فَيْرُوزِيّ (fayrūziyy)colour
- فَيْرُوز (fayrūz)gemstone
- فِيرُوزَج (fīrūzaj)gemstone
Bengali ফিরোজা, ফিরোজা
- ফিরোজা (phirōja)colour
- ফিরোজা (phirōja)gemstone
Bulgarian тюркоа́з, тюркоа́з
- тюркоа́з (tjurkoáz)colour
- тюркоа́з (tjurkoáz)gemstone
- тюркоа́зен (tjurkoázen)made of turquoise
- тюркоа́зен (tjurkoázen)having a pale greenish-blue colour
Catalan turquesa, turquesa
- turquesacolour
- turquesagemstone
- turquesahaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Chinese Cantonese 綠松石 /绿松石
- 綠松石 /绿松石 (luk⁶ cung⁴ sek⁶)gemstone
Chinese Mandarin 綠松石 /绿松石
- 綠松石 /绿松石 (lǜsōngshí)gemstone
Czech tyrkysový, tyrkysová
- tyrkysovýcolour
- tyrkysovácolour
- tyrkysgemstone
- tyrkysovýhaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Danish turkis, turkis
- turkisgemstone
- turkishaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Dutch turkoois, turkooise
- turkooiscolour
- turkooisecolour
- turkooisgemstone
- turkooishaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Esperanto turkisa, turkiso
- turkisacolour
- turkisogemstone
- turkisahaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Estonian türkiis
- türkiisgemstone
Finnish turkoosi, turkoosi
- turkoosicolour
- turkoosigemstone
- turkoosihaving a pale greenish-blue colour
- turkoosinvärinenhaving a pale greenish-blue colour
French turquoise, turquoise
- turquoisecolour
- turquoisegemstone
- turquoisehaving a pale greenish-blue colour
German türkis, Türkis
- türkiscolour
- Türkisgemstone
- aus Türkismade of turquoise
- türkishaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Greek τυρκουάζ, τυρκουάζ
- τυρκουάζ (tyrkouáz)colour
- τυρκουάζ (tyrkouáz)gemstone
- περουζές (perouzés)gemstone
Hebrew טוּרְקִיז
- טוּרְקִיז (turkíz)gemstone
Hindi फ़िरोज़ी, फ़ीरोज़ा
- फ़िरोज़ी (firozī)colour
- फ़ीरोज़ा (fīrozā)gemstone
- पीरोज़ा (pīrozā)gemstone
- पेरोज (peroj)gemstone
- पेरज (peraj)gemstone
- फ़िरोज़ा (firozā)having a pale greenish-blue colour
Hungarian türkiz, türkizkék
- türkizcolour
- türkizkékcolour
- türkizgemstone
- türkizmade of turquoise
- türkizhaving a pale greenish-blue colour
- türkizkékhaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Icelandic grænblár
- grænblárcolour
Indonesian toska, pirus
- toskacolour
- piruscolour
- biru piruscolour
- pirusgemstone
Italian turchese, turchese
- turchesecolour
- turchesegemstone
- di turchesemade of turquoise
- turchesehaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Japanese ターコイズブルー, トルコ石
- ターコイズブルー (tākoizu burū)colour
- トルコ石 (toruko ishi)gemstone
- ターコイズ (tākoizu)gemstone
- トルコ石の (toruko ishi no)made of turquoise
- ターコイズブルーの (tākoizu burū no)having a pale greenish-blue colour
Korean 터키옥, 터키석
- 터키옥 (teokiok)gemstone
- 터키석 (teokiseok)gemstone
Latin callainus, callais
- callainuscolour
- callaisgemstone
- callainusmade of turquoise
- callainushaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Latvian tirkīzs
- tirkīzsgemstone
Lithuanian turkio spalva, turkis
- turkio spalvacolour
- turkisgemstone
Malay firus, terusi
- firuscolour
- terusicolour
- firusgemstone
Māori kārikiōrangi
- kārikiōrangicolour
Norwegian Bokmål turkis, turkis
- turkisgemstone
- turkishaving a pale greenish-blue colour
- turkisblåhaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Persian فیروزهای, فیروزه
- فیروزهای (firuze-i)colour
- فیروزه (firuze)gemstone
- پیروزه (piruze)gemstone
- فیروزهای (firuze-i)having a pale greenish-blue colour
Polish kolor turkusowy, turkus
- kolor turkusowycolour
- turkusgemstone
- turkusowymade of turquoise
- turkusowyhaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Portuguese turquesa, turquesa
- turquesacolour
- turquesagemstone
- turquesahaving a pale greenish-blue colour
- turquesinohaving a pale greenish-blue colour
- turquesadohaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Punjabi فِیروزَہ
- فِیروزَہ (fīrozah)gemstone
Romanian turcoaz, turchez
- turcoazcolour
- turchezcolour
- turcoazăgemstone
- peruzeagemstone
- de turcoazămade of turquoise
- de peruzeamade of turquoise
- turcoazhaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Russian бирюзо́вый, бирюза́
- бирюзо́вый (birjuzóvyj)colour
- бирюза́ (birjuzá)gemstone
- бирюзо́вый (birjuzóvyj)made of turquoise
- бирюзо́вый (birjuzóvyj)having a pale greenish-blue colour
Slovak tyrkys, tyrkysový
- tyrkysgemstone
- tyrkysovýhaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Spanish turquesa, turquesa
- turquesacolour
- turquesagemstone
- turquesahaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Swahili rangi ya feruzi, feruzi
- rangi ya feruzicolour
- feruzigemstone
Swedish turkos, turkosfärg
- turkoscolour
- turkosfärgcolour
- turkosgemstone
- turkoshaving a pale greenish-blue colour
- turkosfärgadhaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Tagalog turkesa
- turkesagemstone
Turkish turkuaz, firuze
- turkuazcolour
- firuzecolour
- turkuazgemstone
- firuzegemstone
- turkuazhaving a pale greenish-blue colour
Ukrainian ту́ркусовий, пірузо́вий
- ту́ркусовий (túrkusovyj)colour
- пірузо́вий (piruzóvyj)colour
- бірюзо́вий (birjuzóvyj)colour
- ту́ркус (túrkus)gemstone
- бірюза́ (birjuzá)gemstone
- піруза (piruza)gemstone
- фіруза (firuza)gemstone
- бірюзо́вий (birjuzóvyj)having a pale greenish-blue colour
Urdu فِیروزَہ
- فِیروزَہ (fīrozā)gemstone
Vietnamese xanh thổ, xanh ngọc
- xanh thổcolour
- xanh ngọccolour
- màu ngọc lamcolour
- màu lam ngọccolour
- ngọc lamgemstone
Cite this entry
turquoise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turquoise
“turquoise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turquoise. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “turquoise,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turquoise.
Source: turquoise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.