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• jasper
  jasper

  noun

  a compact, opaque, cryptocrystalline variety of quartz, usually colored red: often used in decorative carvings.
• Jasper
  Jasper

  noun

  a city in NW Alabama.

jasper

¹ American  

[jas-per] / ˈdʒæs pər /

noun

1. a compact, opaque, cryptocrystalline variety of quartz, usually colored red: often used in decorative carvings.

2. Also called jasper ware;.  Also called cameo ware.  a fine, hard stoneware introduced c1775 by Wedgwood, stained various colors by metallic oxides, with raised designs in white.

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jasper ² American  

[jas-per] / ˈdʒæs pər /

noun

Older Slang.

1. a fellow; guy.

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Jasper ³ American  

[jas-per] / ˈdʒæs pər /

noun

1. a city in NW Alabama.

2. a resort town in SW Alberta, in SW Canada, on the Athabasca River: headquarters for Jasper National Park.

3. a male given name, form of Caspar.

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jasper British  

/ ˈdʒæspə /

noun

1. an opaque impure microcrystalline form of quartz, red, yellow, brown, or dark green in colour, used as a gemstone and for ornamental decoration

2. Also called: jasper ware.  a dense hard stoneware, invented in 1775 by Wedgwood, capable of being stained throughout its substance with metallic oxides and used as background for applied classical decoration

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jasper Scientific  

/ jăs′pər /

1. A reddish, brown, or yellow variety of chert. Jasper usually occurs in association with iron ores and contains iron impurities that give it its color.

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Etymology

Origin of jasper¹

1300–50; Middle English jaspe, jaspre < Middle French; Old French jaspe < Latin iaspis < Greek iáspis < Semitic; compare Arabic yashb

Origin of jasper²

1895–1900, special use of proper name Jasper

Explanation

Jasper is a hard, semiprecious stone that's usually red. One of your birthstones is jasper if you were born in the month of March. Jasper is a type of quartz that can be brown, yellow, or green, but is most often a mottled, brick red color. When geologists find jasper embedded in cracks of volcanic rocks, it looks dull and drab, but it's beautifully shiny after being polished. Jasper has been used in jewelry and decorative objects for thousands of years. The word jasper means "spotted or speckled stone," from a Greek root.

Example Sentences

But the destruction of forests means that woodland caribou are threatened or endangered, and the population in Jasper National Park is so small that it is heading toward extinction.

From Slate • Apr. 28, 2026

At Bettiscombe Manor, home of the British fashion designer Jasper Conran, a Queen Anne house is framed by drifts of scent-laden planting schemes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

"You may see the stereotypical pencil point trees that they've started to fell or to coppice," Jasper said.

From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026

Her five-year-old son Jasper is autistic and had previously enjoyed visiting the park's CBeebies Land for a number of years, she said.

From BBC • Feb. 6, 2026

It was Jasper, thrusting his cold damp nose in my hands.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier