Opal

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈəʊpÉ™l/
• US IPA: /ˈoÊŠpÉ™l/
• Rhymes: -əʊpÉ™l

Origin

In Florio’s A World of Words 1598 as opale, from French opale, from Latin opalus, from Byzantine Greek ὀπάλλιος, from Sanskrit उपल (upala, "gem”, “stone")

Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, Robert K. Barnhart (ed.), Chambers, 1988

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Full definition of opal

Noun

1. (mineralogy) A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO₂·nH₂O.
• 2012-03, Lee A. Groat, Gemstones, Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are … . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)
2. (biology, genetics, biochemistry) A colloquial name used in molecular biology referring to a particular stop codon sequence, "UGA."

Derived terms

• fire opal
• wood opal
• opaline
• opalesce

Anagrams

• OLAP