sapphire means of a deep blue colour. It carries an Arena rating of 1619, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sapphire ranks #246 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,120 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #4,811 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #5,814 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
sapphire is pronounced /ˈsæf.aɪ̯ə/.
Why “sapphire” is a great word
Of a deep, rich blue color, like that of the gemstone. Its name traces a long route from Assyrian Akkadian *šipirtu* ("lapis lazuli") through Hebrew *sappī́r*, into Greek *sáppheiros*, and via Latin and Old French into Middle English *saphir*. Unlike "azure," which suggests a bright, open sky, or "cobalt," a term of the chemical palette, sapphire carries the weight and density of the earth's own jewelry. It is the cold, starless vault of a midwinter dusk, the stained glass of a cathedral window holding the last of the daylight, the profound and silent depth of a mountain tarn—a color not merely seen, but felt as a patient, mineral stillness that swallows the gaze and returns it, changed.
Etymology
From Middle English saphir, from Old French saphir, from Latin sapphir, sappir, sapphīrus, from Ancient Greek σάπφειρος (sáppheiros, “precious stone, gem”), from a Semitic language such as Hebrew סַפִּיר (sappī́r, “lapis lazuli”), originally from Assyrian Akkadian šipirtu (“lapis lazuli”).
adj
- of a deep blue colour.e.g.“At about eleven, we uncaged our pigeons, who flew away into the sapphire sky that hung like a sail from the white peaks.” — 1927, Dhan Gopal Mukerji, Gay-Neck, the Story of a Pigeon, E.P. Dutton & Co., page 33:
- pertaining to a 45th year
name
- A female given name from English from the precious stone.
- A locality in the Inverell council area, north eastern New South Wales, Australia.
noun
- A clear deep blue variety of corundum, valued as a precious stone.
- A white, yellow, or purple variety of corundum, either clear or translucent.
- A deep blue colour.
- Azure, when blazoning by precious stones.e.g.“Elgin. Topaz a Saltier and Chief Ruby, on a Canton Pearl a Lyon Rampant Saphyr, which last is their paternal Coat; […]” — 1720, Francis Nichols, Rudiments of Honour, page 296:
- Any hummingbird in the genera Hylocharis and Chlorestes, as well as the rufous-throated sapphire, which is now in the genus Amazilia.
- Any of the butterflies in the southern Asian lycaenid genus Heliophorus or the African lycaenid genus Iolaus.
- A stereotype of an aggressive and domineering black woman.e.g.“When black women speak up about indignities, they are Sapphires. When black women stand up for their rights, they are Sapphires.” — 2010, C. Henderson, Imagining the Black Female Body:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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