chrysoprase

[ kris-uh-preyz ]

nounMineralogy.

a green variety of chalcedony, sometimes used as a gem.

Origin of chrysoprase

1250–1300; Middle English <Latin chrȳsoprasus<Greek chrȳsóprasos, equivalent to chrȳso-chryso- + prás(on) leek + -os noun suffix

Words Nearby chrysoprase

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use chrysoprase in a sentence

Her pretty lips laughed as she swam towards him, the sole atom in an immensity of chrysoprase.
Love's Usuries | Louis Creswicke
The chrysoprase of the moderns is certainly not the chrysoprasius of Pliny, or the χρυσόπρασος of Greek writers.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 | Various
But at a much earlier date the Silesian chrysoprase was used for mural decoration at the Wenzel chapel at Prague.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 | Various
Much commercial chrysoprase is chalcedony artificially stained by impregnation with a green salt of nickel.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 | Various
The saffron became fire; the fire lit up a heaven of chrysoprase and rose.
The Wild Olive | Basil King

British Dictionary definitions for chrysoprase

chrysoprase

/ (ˈkrɪsəˌpreɪz) /

noun

an apple-green variety of chalcedony: a gemstone

Origin of chrysoprase

C13 crisopace, from Old French, from Latin chrӯsoprasus, from Greek khrusoprasos, from chryso- + prason leek

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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