birthstone
Americannoun
-
birthstones
plural
noun
Usage
What does birthstone mean? A birthstone is a precious or semiprecious stone associated with a particular month. Some people wear jewelry with the stone that corresponds with the month they were born. Here is a list of the birthstones that have traditionally been associated with each month, along with some of their modern alternatives.
- January: garnet
- February: amethyst
- March: bloodstone (or aquamarine)
- April: diamond
- May: emerald
- June: pearl (or alexandrite or moonstone)
- July: ruby
- August: sardonyx (or peridot or spinel)
- September: sapphire
- October: opal (or tourmaline)
- November: topaz (or citrine)
- December: turquoise or lapis (or blue zircon or blue topaz or tanzanite)
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of birthstone
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For the mission, Hansen is carrying four Moon-shaped pendants, each with a birthstone representing his wife and three teenage children.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2026
You’ll have fun customizing Ariel Gordon’s handmade dual birthstone ring, which features two birthstones set in a slim open-cuff gold band.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2023
She sought out a Black female designer to create a bespoke engagement ring, and landed upon Maggi Simpkins, who customized the ring with a ruby, Ms. Hardy’s birthstone, beneath the diamond setting.
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2022
Last year, for Mother’s Day, he bought me a necklace with her birthstone.
From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2017
And I get a gorgeous sterling silver treble clef pendant with my birthstone.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Hansen will carry four Moon-shaped pendants for his wife and three children, engraved with the phrase "Moon and back" and set with their birthstones.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
You’ll have fun customizing Ariel Gordon’s handmade dual birthstone ring, which features two birthstones set in a slim open-cuff gold band.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2023
Williams gave Pruitt information about her family and her relationship to tennis history that he has embedded, such as studding the swirling beads with the birthstones of her siblings.
From New York Times ● Nov. 1, 2022
In 2019, we're going to take a look at another, even more unusual Indonesian tsunami, get into the geology of birthstones, and cover the basics of basalt.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 5, 2019
"Why don't you girls look for your birthstones?" she said.
From "Case of the Sneaky Snowman: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #5" by Carolyn Keene
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
