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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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Around back, an arrow, painted garnet against an otherwise beige facade, points toward a red door sheltered by a small, domed awning.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
The alternative, Red Ambience, drenches the car in a fathomless shade of garnet metallic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
The discoveries included a silver, gold and garnet bird's-head terminal with elephant ivory inlays, possibly from a drinking-horn, several gold rings, and other metal objects.
From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026
Any sweet potato will work — Japanese yams, garnet sweet potatoes, jeweled sweet potatoes, purple sweet potatoes — whatever you have available.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 26, 2023
The fields stretched like a carpet of jewels, emerald and topaz and garnet.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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
Fire personnel took protective measures in the McKinley grove even before the Garnet blaze arrived.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2025
Meteorologists are predicting a 50% chance of thunderstorms directly affecting the Garnet fire, and firefighters overnight reported lightning strikes in the area around 3 a.m.
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
“I think I can go out without having to drag Jeff Garnet into my life,” I say.
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 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
It consisted of at least 30 pendants and beads made of Roman coins, gold, garnets, glass and semi-precious stones.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 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
"I helped Pate carve the stone for the pommel," the builder said, "and your friend Sam bought the garnets in Mole's Town."
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
