zircon

Z10I1R1C3O1N1
/ˈzɜː(ɹ)kən/

noun

A mineral occurring in tetragonal crystals, usually of a brown or grey colour and consisting of silica and zirconia.

Similar
zirconium silicate
Less commonScrabble 17

Meanings

nounzircon (countable and uncountable, plural zircons)

plural zircons

  1. uncountableA mineral occurring in tetragonal crystals, usually of a brown or grey colour and consisting of silica and zirconia.

    […] salamanders, mermaids, chimaeras, wild men o’ the woods, leviathans, all hewn from faultless gems, thrice the bulk of a big man’s body, velvet-dark sapphires, chrysolite, beryl, amethyst, and the yellow zircon that is like transparent gold.

    1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 3
    1 more example

    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
  2. countableA crystal of zircon, sometimes used as a false or semiprecious gemstone.

    A zircon princess, seemed to lost her senses

    1982, “The Message”, performed by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna common mineral occurring in small crystals; chief source of zirconium; used as a refractory when opaque and as a gem when transparent

Similar
zirconium silicate
Broader
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Persianzlgwn'
  2. Arabicزَرْقُون
  3. Frenchzircon
  4. GermanZirkon
  5. Englishzircon

From German Zirkon, possibly via French zircon, formed in the 1780s from Arabic زَرْقُون (zarqūn), borrowed from Middle Persian zlgwn' (/⁠zargōn⁠/). Doublet of jargoon.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic زِرْكُون, زَرْقُون
  • زِرْكُون (zirkūn)mineral
  • زَرْقُون (zarqūn)mineral
Bulgarian циркон
  • циркон (cirkon)mineral
Catalan zircó
  • zircómineral
Chinese Mandarin 鋯石 /锆石, 锆英石
  • 鋯石 /锆石 (gàoshí)mineral
  • 锆英石mineral
  • 鋯英石 /锆英石mineral
  • 风信子石mineral
  • 風信子石 /风信子石mineral
Danish zirkon
  • zirkonmineral
Finnish zirkoni
  • zirkonimineral
French zircon
  • zirconmineral
German Zirkon
  • Zirkonmineral
Hindi गोमेद, गोमेधक
  • गोमेद (gomed)mineral
  • गोमेधक (gomedhak)mineral
  • गोमेदक (gomedak)mineral
Hungarian cirkon
  • cirkonmineral
Italian zircone
  • zirconemineral
Japanese ジルコン
  • ジルコン (jirukon)mineral
Polish cyrkon
  • cyrkonmineral
Portuguese zircão
  • zircãomineral
Romanian zircon
  • zirconmineral
Russian цирко́н
  • цирко́н (cirkón)mineral
Spanish circón, zircón
  • circónmineral
  • zircónmineral
Swedish zirkon
  • zirkonmineral
Tagalog sirkon
  • sirkonmineral
Thai เพทาย
  • เพทาย (pee-taai)mineral
Turkish zirkon
  • zirkonmineral
Cite this entry
APA

zircon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zircon

MLA

“zircon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zircon. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “zircon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zircon.

Source: zircon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.