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• jasper
  jasper

  noun

  a compact, opaque, cryptocrystalline variety of quartz, usually colored red: often used in decorative carvings.
• Jasper
  Jasper

  noun

  a city in NW Alabama.

jasper

¹ American  

[jas-per] / ˈdʒæs pər /

noun

1. a compact, opaque, cryptocrystalline variety of quartz, usually colored red: often used in decorative carvings.

2. Also called jasper ware;, cameo ware. a fine, hard stoneware introduced c1775 by Wedgwood, stained various colors by metallic oxides, with raised designs in white.

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jasper ² American  

[jas-per] / ˈdʒæs pər /

noun

Older Slang.

1. a fellow; guy.

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Jasper ³ American  

[jas-per] / ˈdʒæs pər /

noun

1. a city in NW Alabama.

2. a resort town in SW Alberta, in SW Canada, on the Athabasca River: headquarters for Jasper National Park.

3. a male given name, form of Caspar.

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jasper British  

/ ˈdʒæspə /

noun

1. an opaque impure microcrystalline form of quartz, red, yellow, brown, or dark green in colour, used as a gemstone and for ornamental decoration

2. Also called: jasper ware. a dense hard stoneware, invented in 1775 by Wedgwood, capable of being stained throughout its substance with metallic oxides and used as background for applied classical decoration

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jasper Scientific  

/ jăs′pər /

1. A reddish, brown, or yellow variety of chert. Jasper usually occurs in association with iron ores and contains iron impurities that give it its color.

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Etymology

Origin of jasper¹

1300–50; Middle English jaspe, jaspre < Middle French; Old French jaspe < Latin iaspis < Greek iáspis < Semitic; compare Arabic yashb

Origin of jasper²

1895–1900, special use of proper name Jasper

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Explanation

Jasper is a hard, semiprecious stone that's usually red. One of your birthstones is jasper if you were born in the month of March. Jasper is a type of quartz that can be brown, yellow, or green, but is most often a mottled, brick red color. When geologists find jasper embedded in cracks of volcanic rocks, it looks dull and drab, but it's beautifully shiny after being polished. Jasper has been used in jewelry and decorative objects for thousands of years. The word jasper means "spotted or speckled stone," from a Greek root.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

jasper Jasper

Magical gems from the Roman empire show how it blended its own culture with that of local populations to create totems out of carnelian, jasper and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Two layered discs carved out of Dalmatian jasper support a pink-hued thulite bowl; the materials were selected by the brand’s gemologists and cut and polished by lapidaries to bring out their full character.

From New York Times ● May 9, 2024

It’s a desolate alluvial fan on the southern flanks of the Cady Mountains, where sparkling calcite crystals and pieces of quartz, jasper and agate are continually carried down the slopes by thunderstorms and flash floods.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2023

She uses stones such as lapis lazuli and red jasper to render the human circulatory system, hand-cutting long, thin strips of material with diamond blades.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 22, 2022

Each jasper bead of red, yellow, or a combination of the two he’d chiseled down, polished, and drilled himself.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

Altogether, these individuals would owe at least $107 billion in taxes, according to an analysis by economists Jasper Boll, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

Men get their own Bulgari perfume, a woody scent “inspired by the vibrant energy of the Blood-red Jasper gemstone.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Also revelling in the excitement from being at the game, young fan Jasper was wearing a tri-coloured wig his grandfather bought him.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Holly Hawkesford is a midwife at Warwick Hospital and her son, Jasper, died seven hours after he was born in 2014.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

Then Jasper left me, too, and settled himself by the side of his companion, licking his side.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

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