amethyst

See also: Amethyst

Amethyst (gemstone).

English

Etymology

From Middle English ametist, from Old French ametiste (French améthyste), from Ancient Greek ἀμέθυστος (améthustos, “not drunk”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + μεθύω (methúō, “I am drunk”), from μέθυ (méthu, “wine”). The Greeks believed that the amethyst prevented intoxication.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæm.ə.θɪst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

amethyst (plural amethysts)

2. A transparent purple to violet variety of quartz with traces of manganese, used as a gemstone.
   • 2012 March, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 14 June 2012, page 128:

     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.)

3. (uncountable) A purple colour.

   amethyst:  

4. (heraldry) The tincture purpure, when blazoning by precious stones.
   • 1726, John Guillim, The Banner Display'd, page 407:

     The Field is Topaz, a Lion rampant Amethyst [...]

   • 1834, The Art of Heraldry; Explaining the Origin and Use of Arms and Armorial Bearings, Etc, page 14:

     Purple, on the arms of princes Mercury, of peers amethyst, and of commoners purpure, [is represented] by diagonal lines from the sinister chief to the dexter base.

   • 1906 (printed), The Beetham Repository, 1770 (eds. William Hutton, John Rawlinson Ford), page 115:

     1st & 4th grand Quarter alike viz. Field Pearl, on a bend Sapphire 3 Buckheads, coup'd topaz for Stanley. The 2d Quarter, Field Sapphire with an inverted Chief, amethyst. The 3d, A Checque topaz & Amethyst, this seems prior to Bosworth field, to have belong'd to Sr Robt Goushill whose Dr a Stanley married [...]

Derived terms

• amethyst deceiver
• amethyst gold
• amethystic
• amethystine
• ametrine

 

Translations

gem

• Afrikaans: ametis
• Arabic: جمشت
• Armenian: մեղեսիկ (hy) (meġesik), ամեթիստ (hy) (ametʻist)
• Bulgarian: аметист (bg) (ametist)
• Burmese: သီဟိုဠ်နီလာ (sihuilnila)
• Catalan: ametista (ca) f
• Cherokee: ᎠᎻᏘᏏ (amitisi)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 紫水晶 (zi² seoi² zing¹)

  Hakka: 紫水晶 (chṳ́-súi-chîn)

  Mandarin: 紫水晶 (zh) (zǐshuǐjīng)

• Czech: ametyst (cs) m
• Danish: ametyst (da) c
• Dutch: amethist (nl) m
• Esperanto: ametisto
• Estonian: ametüst
• Finnish: ametisti (fi)
• French: améthyste (fr) f
• Galician: ametista (gl) f
• Georgian: ამეთვისტო (ka) (ametvisṭo)
• German: Amethyst (de) m
• Greek: αμέθυστος (el) m (améthystos)

  Ancient: ἀμέθυστος m (améthustos)

• Gujarati: એમિથિસ્ટ (emithisṭ)
• Hebrew: אַחְלָמָה (he) f ('akhlamá)
• Hindi: अमेथिस्ट (amethisṭ), एमिथिस्ट m (emithisṭ)
• Hungarian: ametiszt (hu)
• Icelandic: ametýst n
• Indonesian: kecubung (id), ametis (id)
• Irish: aimitis f
• Italian: ametista (it) f
• Japanese: 紫水晶 (ja) (むらさきずいしょう, murasakizuishō), アメシスト (ja) (ameshisuto)
• Kannada: ಅಮೆಥಿಸ್ಟ್ (kn) (amethisṭ‌)
• Kazakh: күлгінтас (külgıntas), аметист (ametist)
• Korean: 자수정 (ko) (jasujeong)
• Latin: amethystus f
• Latvian: ametists m
• Malay: ametis, batu kecubung
• Malayalam: അമീഥിസ്റ്റ് (amīthisṟṟŭ)
• Maltese: ametist
• Maori: ametihita
• Occitan: ametista (oc)
• Persian: آمتیست (âmetist), گمست (fa) (gamast), کرکهان (karkahân), کرکهن (karkahan)
• Polish: ametyst (pl) m
• Portuguese: ametista (pt) f
• Romanian: ametist (ro) n
• Russian: амети́ст (ru) m (ametíst)
• Scottish Gaelic: please add this translation if you can
• Serbo-Croatian: ametist (sh) m
• Slovene: ametíst (sl) m
• Spanish: amatista (es) f
• Sundanese: kucubung
• Swahili: ametisti
• Swedish: ametist (sv) c
• Tagalog: amatista (tl)
• Thai: เขี้ยวหนุมาน (th) (kîao-hà-nú-maan)
• Turkish: ametist (tr) sg, mortaş (tr) sg
• Ukrainian: амети́ст (uk) m (ametýst)
• Volapük: maetüt
• Welsh: amethyst m
• West Frisian: ametist
• Zazaki: ametist

colour

• Catalan: ametista (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᎠᎻᏘᏏ-ᏕᎭᎷᎨᎢ (amitisi-dehalugei)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 紫色 (zh) (zǐsè)

• Estonian: ametüst
• Finnish: ametistinvioletti
• Georgian: ამეთვისტოსფერი (ametvisṭosperi) (neologism)
• Indonesian: kecubung (id)
• Irish: aimitis f
• Japanese: 紫色 (ja) (むらさきいろ, murasakiiro)
• Malay: kecubung
• Russian: амети́стовый цвет m (ametístovyj cvet), фиоле́товый цвет m (fiolétovyj cvet)
• Spanish: amatista (es) f
• Swahili: rangi ya amethisto
• Zazaki: ametistane

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} ametistas m (1); ^{(please verify)} ametistinė spalva f (2)

Adjective

amethyst (comparative more amethyst, superlative most amethyst)

1. Having a colour similar to that of the gemstone

Translations

colour

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 紫色的 (zǐsè de)

• Finnish: ametistinvioletti
• German: amethysten (de)
• Irish: aimitise
• Polish: ametystowy (pl), fioletowy (pl)
• Romanian: purpuriu (ro)
• Russian: аметистовый (ru) (ametistovyj)
• Volapük: maetütakölik

See also

• Appendix:Colors

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Amethyst”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “amethyst”, in Mindat.org‎^[2], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.
• The Manual of Heraldry, Fifth Edition, by Anonymous, London, 1862, online at [3]

Welsh

Etymology

From English amethyst.

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈamɛθɨ̞sd/, [ˈamɛθɨ̞st]
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈamɛθɪsd/, [ˈamɛθɪst]

Noun

amethyst m (plural amethystau)

1. amethyst

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
amethyst	unchanged	unchanged	hamethyst
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “amethyst”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies