Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A mineral of hydrated silica.
- n. A gemstone made of this mineral, noted for its rich iridescence.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A mineral consisting of silica like quartz, but in a different condition, having a lower specific gravity and hardness and being without crystalline structure: it usually contains some water, mostly from 3 to 9 per cent. ; ; ; ; ; ; . There are many varieties, the chief of which are — precious or noble opal (including the harlequin opal), which exhibits brilliant and changeable reflections of green, blue, yellow, and red, and which is highly valued as a gem
Wiktionary
- n. A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO2·nH2O.
- n. , , A colloquial name used in molecular biology referring to a particular stop codon sequence, "UGA."
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a translucent mineral consisting of hydrated silica of variable color; some varieties are used as gemstones
Etymologies
- Middle English opalus, from Latin, alteration of Greek opallios, probably from Sanskrit upalaḥ, from variant of upara-, lower, from upa, below; see upo in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Although opal is not a conclusive indicator of a wetter Mars, it does suggest some interesting scenarios.”
“The most durable opal is a solid piece, free from fractures.”
“The very word opal comes from the Sanskrit upala, meaning “precious,” which I guess says it all!”
“The opal is oblong," the crystal-gazer continued,”
“The story of the king's opal is the one I know, and though it sounds exactly as though it had been made out of a dream, it is none the less interesting for that, anyone will admit; and this is the story:”
“The town is known as the opal capital of the world because 90% of the world's finest opals are mined there.”
“The opal is a beautiful stone which seen at different angles and in different lights seems to glow with various colors.”
“Of all precious stones, the opal is the most lovely and commonplace.”
“Mine, naturally, was the least expensive; it was an opal ring -- the opal was my favourite stone, because it seems to blush and turn pale as if it had a soul.”
“Hydrated silica, commonly known as opal, has been found across large region of Mars.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘opal’.
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Common English Words That Are Also First Names.
art, bob, bill, grace, hope, john, heather, pat, amber, jack, dale, glen and 170 more...
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Home Sweet Home
Actual Towns and Cities with Poetic Names.
If you know where the town is located please put that in the comments. All of mine came out of a zip code directory.phlox, blue mountain, battles wharf, robinwood, blue spring, coffee springs, cottage hill, hazel green, highland home, sunflower, three notch, circle and 94 more...
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The Decemberists for polite everyday conversation
opal, dolor, lithe, infanta, vagabond, courtesan, vestry, skein, dram, magenta, camisole, charlemagne and 8 more...
bilby Stayed about 3 days there in an underground hotel. Certainly a novel experience. Jul 11, 2008
chained_bear I've been there! It was really cool! Well... actually quite hot. But cool! Jul 11, 2008
plethora I'd like to go to Coober Pedy and go down one of the opal mines. Someday. Jul 11, 2008
bilby Just as well you like it then :-) I did a bit of opal fossicking around Yowah. Fun. I'm easily impressed by shiny things. Jul 11, 2008
inwe1 Love this word ;D 'tis my middle name as well Jul 11, 2008
treeseed a town in Wyoming, USA Feb 26, 2008
mollusque Opal. The word itself was like a charm. You could stroke a word like opal. You could taste it. You could swallow it whole, raw and silky, like an oyster, and then Oyster could reel you in.
--Janette Turner Hospital, 1996, Oyster Nov 11, 2007