Earth & SkyGreek → English
Chalcedony
/kælˈsɛdəni/noun
Quartz in microscopically fine fibres, the family that includes agate, onyx and carnelian.
The Greek roots
Χαλκηδών
Chalkēdṓn
Chalcedon, a Bithynian city
Literally: “stone of Chalcedon”
Follow a root:Χαλκηδών1 word
The story of the word
The stone is listed in Revelation among the foundations of the heavenly city, and English took it from there through Latin. Where the Greek word came from is unsettled: the obvious candidate is Chalcedon on the Bosphorus, except the city was spelled with a kappa and the stone with a chi. Others read χαλκός, copper, in the first syllable instead.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
Same family
chalcopyritechalcolithic
In a sentence
The seal was cut from a blue-grey chalcedony no bigger than a thumbnail.