Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Short for lapis lazuli (which see, under lapis).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Min.) A mineral of a fine azure-blue color, usually in small rounded masses. It is essentially a silicate of alumina, lime, and soda, with some sodium sulphide, is often marked by yellow spots or veins of sulphide of iron, and is much valued for ornamental work. Called also lapis lazuli, and Armenian stone.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Short for lapis lazuli.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an azure blue semiprecious stone

Etymologies

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Examples

  • He sat beside a lovely young Italian woman, who took a rosary of lapis lazuli from a velvet case and prayed fervently.

    Jenny: A Novel 1921

  • The ancients gave the name of sapphire also to our lapis-lazuli, which is likewise a blue stone, often speckled with shining pyrites which give it the appearance of being sprinkled with gold dust.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 14: Simony-Tournon 1840-1916 1913

  • The lapis lazuli, which is found frequently among the remains as the material of seals, combs, rings, jars, and other small objects, probably came from Bactria or the adjacent regions, whence alone it is procurable at the present day.

    The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 2. (of 7): Assyria The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations. George Rawlinson 1857

  • Again, it is apt to be separated in an impure state from the lapis lazuli, which is an exceedingly varying and compound mineral, abounding with earthy and metallic parts in different states of oxidation and composition: hence ultramarine sometimes contains iron as a red oxide, when it has a purple cast; and sometimes the same metal as a yellow oxide, when it is of a green tone; while often it retains a portion of black sulphuret of iron, which imparts a dark and dusky hue.

    Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists George Field

  • The illustrations, lit up in precious gold leaf and the deep blue of lapis lazuli, are as bright now as they were hundreds of years ago.

    This week's new exhibitions 2011

  • They made their living through pastoralism, brigandage, and export of the few resources they had to offer, including pistachios and lapis lazuli—the Hindu Kush being the only known source for this precious blue stone in the ancient world.

    Alexander the Great Philip Freeman 2011

  • I grind pigments using a mortar and pestle the way painters used to ground lapis lazuli, burnt sienna, and cerulean blue centuries ago.

    The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011

  • They made their living through pastoralism, brigandage, and export of the few resources they had to offer, including pistachios and lapis lazuli—the Hindu Kush being the only known source for this precious blue stone in the ancient world.

    Alexander the Great Philip Freeman 2011

  • They were mostly indigo, though lapis lazuli ringed her pupils, and sent forth cerulean fire to the outer edge of her iris, which hinted vermillion.

    Mandala « A Fly in Amber 2010

  • They made their living through pastoralism, brigandage, and export of the few resources they had to offer, including pistachios and lapis lazuli—the Hindu Kush being the only known source for this precious blue stone in the ancient world.

    Alexander the Great Philip Freeman 2011

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