Earth & SkyGreek → English
Chrysoberyl
/ˌkrɪsəˈbɛrəl/noun
A hard yellow-green gemstone of beryllium and aluminium, whose alexandrite variety changes colour by lamplight.
The Greek roots
χρυσός
chrysós
gold
βήρυλλος
bḗryllos
beryl, sea-green gem
Literally: “golden beryl”
The story of the word
Pliny lists chrysoberyllus among the gems, and the name survived even though the mineral turned out to be chemically unrelated to beryl. Only half the word is Greek: βήρυλλος looks like a loan from an Indian source, close to Sanskrit vaiḍūrya. Early lenses were ground from beryl, which is why German still calls a pair of spectacles a Brille.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
chrysanthemumchrysalisberylberyllium
In a sentence
A cut chrysoberyl catches light like a cat's eye when the fibres run the right way.