diamond

A diamond is a clear gemstone known for its use in jewelry and its high price.

The word diamond can also refer to the material, which is one of the hardest known substances. It has many practical and industrial applications, including for grinding and polishing—many drill bits have diamond tips, for example.

Diamonds are perhaps the most popular gemstone used in jewelry. They are classified as precious gems, meaning that they have a high commercial value. They are often rated based on four main qualities: cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. Many cut diamonds are crystal clear, but sometimes they come in other transparent colors, including pink, yellow, and blue (like the famous Hope diamond). Some diamonds are synthetic—they’re manufactured in laboratories.

The diamond is the traditional birthstone for the month of April. It’s associated with the zodiac signs Aries and Taurus.

The word diamond is also used to refer to a shape (♦), like the one that’s used as one of the four “suits” on playing cards. Sometimes, it refers to a shape that looks like a cut diamond gem. This is how the word is used in baseball diamond.

Diamond can be used as an adjective to describe things that include diamonds (as in a diamond necklace), are made of diamond (as in a diamond drill bit tip), or are diamond-shaped or diamond-patterned, among other things.

The word diamond is sometimes used to describe a 75-year anniversary, as in It’s my grandparents’ diamond anniversary this year—I can’t believe they’ve been married for 75 years!

Example: Look at her ring—that must be the biggest diamond I’ve ever seen!

Etymologically speaking, the word diamond comes from the Latin adamas, meaning “hard metal” or “diamond.” It ultimately comes from Greek work that perhaps meant “unconquerable”—a reference to its famed hardness—from the prefix a-, meaning “not,” and damân, meaning “to tame” or “conquer.” The first records of the word diamond come from the late 1200s.

Naturally speaking, diamond is the purest form of carbon. Diamonds are formed under conditions of extreme temperature and pressure. They are most commonly found in volcanic rock. Only a small percentage of diamonds are suitable for cutting into gemstones. Poorly formed ones are used in abrasives and in industrial cutting tools.

The modern popularity of diamonds is often traced in part to a 1950s marketing campaign to associate them with engagement rings. Despite diamonds’ popularity, price, and reputation for rareness, many other precious gems are just as rare or even rarer.

What are some other forms related to diamond?

• diamondlike (adjective)

What are some words that share a root or word element with diamond? 

• Hope diamond
• diamond in the rough
• adamant

What are some words that often get used in discussing diamond?

• ring
• necklace
• earring
• jewelry
• carat
• precious
• gem
• gemstone
• mineral
• stone
• baseball

Due to their popularity in expensive jewelry, diamonds are associated with wealth and luxury. However, because diamond mining has a history that’s associated with exploitation of workers in war-torn areas, some people avoid diamonds or only purchase ones that are classified as “conflict-free.”

Meghan Markle's engagement ring has a diamond from the second biggest supplier of conflict-free diamonds — here are the best countries to buy diamonds from https://t.co/4PglNK86ev pic.twitter.com/Jt5RNyTAY0

— Business Insider (@BusinessInsider) May 3, 2018

India is set to become a major hub for the production as well as the processing of lab-grown diamonds and already accounts for about a quarter of global lab-grown diamond output. https://t.co/liWQnKlahK

— The Business of Fashion (@BoF) March 21, 2021

The world's most expensive diamond sold for $48.4 million USD.https://t.co/9Tm4uCs5ip pic.twitter.com/ySXCSodFSm

— HYPEBEAST (@HYPEBEAST) November 14, 2015

True or False?

Diamonds are the rarest of all precious stones.