topaz English · revision 1560

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1250}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtəʊˌpæz/ ''(UK)''; /ˈtoʊˌpæz/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|topace]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|fro|topace]], [[m|fro|topaze]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from [[la|topazus]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from [[grc|τόπαζος|tr=tópazos]], [[m|grc|τοπάζιον|tr=topázion]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) of obscure origin.^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) Pliny says it was named after a remote island in the Red Sea where it was mined, so called because it was hard to find, from [[m|grc|τοπάζειν|tr=topázein|t=to conjecture, try to locate]], but this may be a folk etymology.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Skeat 1911) Others compare [[sa|तपस्|tr=tapas|t=heat, fire]].^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Weekley 1921)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A precious stone (about 1250 in Barnhart; mid-13th century in Etymonline; before 1272 in the OED).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In Middle English the word could be used of almost any yellow stone.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Greeks and Romans gave the name to a yellow stone, possibly yellow olivine or a yellow [[sapphire]].^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In modern mineralogy it is a fluosilicate of aluminium,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) the true topaz, as distinct from yellow sapphire, called ''oriental topaz'', and yellow quartz, called ''false topaz''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024) In heraldry that blazons by precious stones it names the tincture ''or'' (1562).^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) As a colour name, a dark yellow, it dates from 1908.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In 17th- and 18th-century India ''topaz'' or ''topass'' was also a name for soldiers of mixed Portuguese descent, a different word.^(Yule & Burnell 1903)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – ''topace'', a precious stone.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1562 – the heraldic tincture or.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1908 – a dark yellow colour.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[mineral]], a silicate of aluminium containing fluorine, colourless or tinted yellow, blue, brown or pink, and valued as a [[gemstone]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any of various yellow gemstones, especially a yellow variety of [[sapphire]] or of [[quartz]] ([[citrine]]).^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # A yellowish-brown colour.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+ # Either of two brilliantly coloured South American [[hummingbird|alt=hummingbirds]] of the genus ''Topaza''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[false topaz]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sapphire]]

+ * [[citrine]]

+ * [[chrysolite]]

+ * [[tepid]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}