sapphire Quick reference
A Dictionary of the Bible (2 ed.)
... The second jewel in the * walls of the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21: 19); and in * Ezekiel 's * vision the heavenly * throne resembled sapphire (Ezek. 1:...
sapphire Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms (2 ed.)
... A rich blue gemstone, the name comes from the Greek word for blue. Sapphire is a variety of the corundum mineral, as is ruby . Tiny quantities of titanium and iron give rise to the colours of sapphire, which can be yellow, pink, or green, as well as blue. It is a more common gemstone than ruby and today is found mainly in Australia, although exceptional blue and pink sapphires have been extracted from the gem-rich gravels in Sri Lanka for over 2,000 years. Large sapphires are extremely rare; the largest cut star sapphire, the ‘Star of India’, is in the...
sapphire Quick reference
A Dictionary of Electronics and Electrical Engineering (5 ed.)
... A synthetic form of aluminium oxide used as the substrate in microwave integrated circuits where low loss is paramount. See also silicon-on-insulator . ...
sapphire Quick reference
World Encyclopedia
... Transparent to translucent gemstone variety of corundum . It has various colours produced by impurities of iron and titanium, the most valuable being deep...
sapphire Quick reference
A Dictionary of Chemistry (8 ed.)
... Any of the gem varieties of corundum except ruby, especially the blue variety, but other colours of sapphire include yellow, brown, green, pink, orange, and purple. Sapphires are obtained from igneous and metamorphic rocks and from alluvial deposits. The chief sources are Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Burma, Thailand, East Africa, the USA, and Australia. Sapphires are used as gemstones and in record-player styluses and some types of laser. They are synthesized by the Verneuil flame-fusion process. The intense colour of blue sapphire arises because of charge...
sapphire Quick reference
Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins (3 ed.)
...sapphire [ME] We can trace the history of sapphire via Old French safir and Latin sapphirus to Greek sappheiros , but this was probably the Greek word for lapis lazuli ( see place to word (eponyms) ). Before that the trail is obscure. It is thought that the Greeks probably borrowed the word from a Semitic language, such as the Hebrew sappir , but the word does not look as if it has a Semitic origin. There is one theory that the ultimate source may be Sanskrit çanipriya ‘sacred to Saturn’, formed from Sani ‘Saturn’ and priyah ‘precious’, which...
Sapphire Reference library
The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature
...Sapphire . One of the most pervasive and persistent stereotypes of African American women, Sapphire is an overly aggressive, domineering, emasculating female. Her origins can be found in Sam ‘n’ Henry , a 1926 radio serial (renamed two years later as Amos ‘n’Andy ) in which two white actors, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, portrayed two southern African American men who had migrated to Chicago. Rooted in nineteenth-century minstrel shows and blackface vaudeville acts, in 1929 Amos ‘n’Andy joined NBC and added the Kingfish and his wife, Sapphire,...
Sapphire Reference library
Brewer's Dictionary of London Phrase & Fable
... A Metropolitan Police project specializing in the investigation of rape and sexual assault cases, and seeking to improve standards of victim care and support. Each borough has a dedicated Sapphire team. See also the Havens...
sapphire Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology
... XIII. ME. saphir , safir — OF. safir (mod. saphir ) — L. sapphīrus , also sapp(h)ir — Gr. sáppheiros (prob.) lapis lazuli, prob. of Sem....
sapphire Quick reference
The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (2 ed.)
... a transparent precious stone, typically blue, which was the second jewel in the walls of the New Jerusalem, as described in Revelations 21:19. The word comes (in Middle English, via Old French and Latin) from Greek sappheiros , probably denoting lapis lazuli. sapphire wedding a forty-fifth wedding...
sapphire n. (US black) Reference library
Green's Dictionary of Slang
... n. [? she makes one blue adj. 1 (1) (like the jewel); or f. the character Sapphire in the radio (later TV) show Amos 'n' Andy (late 1920s–50s), a portrait, as stereotyped as the rest of the cast, of a complaining, emasculating, unpleasant black woman. Note the use of the name as the pseudonymous author of the 1996 novel Push , a story of poverty and abuse in the ghetto] ( US black ) an unpopular woman. 1972 D. Claerbaut Black Jargon in White America 78: sapphire n. a derogatory name used to denote an unpopular black female. 1972 ...
sapphire Quick reference
New Oxford Rhyming Dictionary (2 ed.)
... • sapphire • backfire • campfire • shellfire • ceasefire • misfire • spitfire • speechifier • humidifier , solidifier • modifier • codifier • amplifier • vilifier • mollifier , qualifier • nullifier • magnifier • indemnifier • signifier • personifier • unifier • typifier • stupefier • clarifier , scarifier • terrifier , verifier • gentrifier • glorifier • purifier • classifier , pacifier • specifier • intensifier • crucifier • emulsifier • versifier • gratifier , ratifier • sanctifier • identifier • testifier • prettifier •...
Sapphire Quick reference
A Dictionary of First Names (2 ed.)
... ♀ From the word for the gemstone (via Old French and Latin from Greek sappheiros , probably ultimately of Semitic origin). The Greek term seems to have originally denoted lapis lazuli, but was later transferred to the translucent blue stone. As a given name this is typically bestowed on a girl with deep blue...
