Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A chalcedony that occurs in bands of different colors and is used as a gemstone, especially in cameos and intaglios.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A variety of quartz, closely allied to agate, characterized by a structure in parallel bands differing in color or in degree of translucency: in the better kinds the layers are sharply defined and the colors white with black, brown, or red.
- noun An infiltration of pus between he layers of the cornea, resembling a nail.
- noun In conchology: The piddock, Pholas dactylus.
- noun A razor-shell; a bivalve of the family Solenidæ.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Min.) Chalcedony in parallel layers of different shades of color. It is used for making cameos, the figure being cut in one layer with the next as a ground.
- noun Same as Mexican onyx.
- noun A deep jet-black color.
- noun a banded variety of marble or calcium carbonate resembling onyx. It is obtained from Mexico in various colors ranging from white to deep black.
- adjective Deep, jet-black.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun mineralogy A banded variety of
chalcedony , acryptocrystalline form ofquartz . - adjective
jet-black
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a chalcedony with alternating black and white bands; used in making cameos
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The high altar, composed of Mexican marble and onyx, is one of the finest ever constructed.
Six Months in Mexico 1888
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The onyx was the color of her long, shiny black hair; the rubies were the color of her lips.
Beauty Nancy Butcher 2003
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It is found notably in the volcanic district of Mono County, and elsewhere, sometimes in the form of Mexican onyx, which is only a translucent variety of the same marble.
The Jewel City Ben Macomber
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Pennsylvania, and Vermont, and also a small amount of so-called onyx marble or travertine obtained from caves and other deposits in Kentucky and other states.
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The onyx is a variety of quartz analogous to the agate and other crypto-crystalline species.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 14: Simony-Tournon 1840-1916 1913
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Oriental alabaster, the alabastrites of the classical writers, is a translucent marble (calcium carbonate) obtained from stalagmitic deposits; because of its usually banded structure, which gives it some resemblance to onyx, it is also called onyx marble, or simply, though incorrectly, onyx.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1: Aachen-Assize 1840-1916 1913
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It is usually clouded or banded like agate, hence sometimes called onyx marble.
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(see Beryl above), we are in no way bound to accept the Greek beryllos as the translation of shhm, and relying on the testimony of the various versions we may safely hold the onyx is the stone signified by shhm.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 14: Simony-Tournon 1840-1916 1913
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There is a kind of onyx called a chalcedony, which hath the same qualities, [4151] avails much against fantastic illusions which proceed from melancholy, preserves the vigour and good estate of the whole body.
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The shoham stone, rendered "onyx" above, may never be identified.
Exposition of Genesis: Volume 1 1892-1972 1942
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