any of a group of hard, vitreous minerals, silicates of calcium, magnesium, iron, or manganese with aluminum or iron, varying in color: a deep-red transparent variety is used as a gem and as an abrasive.
a deep-red color.
What does garnet mean? A garnet is a deep-red transparent gemstone. This is just one type of garnet, which is a type of mineral. Garnet can also be brown, black, green, or yellow, and some kinds are opaque (nontransparent). Still, the name garnet is most popularly associated with the glassy red gemstone, and the word garnet can also be used to refer to a deep-red color. Garnet gems are traditionally considered semiprecious, which is a label applied to a class of gems that have commercial value but one that is less than that of stones labeled precious. However, garnets can cost much more than some precious stones. Garnet is the traditional birthstone for the month of January. It is also associated with the zodiac signs Capricorn and Aquarius. Along with its use in jewelry and other decorative uses, garnet is also used as an abrasive, which is a material used for grinding or polishing. For example, garnet paper is a kind of sandpaper made with crushed garnet. Example: My mom gave me a necklace with a garnet pendant for my birthday.
1275–1325; Middle English garnet, gernate < Old French gernate, grenade < Latin grānātum granular; cf. pomegranate
A garnet is a semi-precious gemstone that's usually a deep red color. If you were born in January, the garnet is your birthstone. Garnet comes from the Medieval Latin granatum, "of dark red color." One theory says the word was abstracted from pomum granatum, or "pomegranate," which has dark red seeds. Despite this origin, and the fact that garnet itself means "dark red," as well as "a gemstone," garnets actually come in a wide range of colors: pink, green, brown, blue, and even colorless. These silicate stones are mined all over the world and polished into gems.
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The alternative, Red Ambience, drenches the car in a fathomless shade of garnet metallic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
Their wings, in shades of lavender, green and red, represented certain crystals and traits: amethyst as one of calm and purity, malachite as one of protection and rose garnet for healing and love.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
A tiny Sutton Hoo-era gold and garnet mount for an Anglo-Saxon warrior's sword belt has been found during a metal detecting event.
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2025
I prefer the garnet sweet potatoes for the ultimate texture, but I promise any and all varieties will work just fine.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 26, 2023
Snowy white chaises with chartreuse pillows, jade bedcurtains and saffron drapes, fuchsia walls and garnet tapestries.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
It stressed Pica could be fatal, citing the cases of 21-year-old James Frankish and 19-year-old Owen Garnet.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025
The lightning-sparked Garnet fire burning in Fresno County is threatening about 200 giant sequoias trees in a grove considered vulnerable to flames.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2025
Crews are also continuing to fight the Garnet fire, a blaze sparked by lightning last week in the Sierra National Forest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2025
Less than a minute later, Philadelphia right wing Garnet Hathaway was given a 10-minute misconduct for making contact with Tampa Bay’s Anthony Cirelli during a timeout for a line change.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 9, 2024
About fifty-four seconds before first period on Tuesday, I walk straight into Jeff Garnet and drop the books I’m carrying.
From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King
Piller juxtaposes opals, garnets and pearls with less conventional materials such as tile fragments, snakeskin, bits of lava from a trip to Iceland, and bullet casings, all bound together with strips of leather or vinyl.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2025
The gold ring, which has a central hexagonal cabochon sapphire with two emeralds and two garnets, was uncovered by detectorist Mark Sell, 63, in King Row, Shipdham, in 2019.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2025
The piece of whiteschist from the Dora Maira Massif contained pink garnets in a silvery-white matrix composed of quartz and other minerals.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2023
The state also boasts a large production of star garnets, the state gem — “so large that most of them are crushed up and made into sandpaper,” Mr. Braunwart said.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2022
His belt was of gold and garnets, and rich with gold was the helm upon his bony head face downward on the floor.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
