sardonyx
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does sardonyx mean? Sardonyx is an opaque (non-clear) gemstone that’s commonly reddish-brown with white layers. Sardonyx is a variety of the mineral chalcedony, a kind of quartz. The bands of sardonyx are formed by alternating layers of the minerals sard and onyx. The color of the sard portion can range from yellow-red to a reddish-brown. Because the onyx portion can be banded, it can be considered a type of agate. Sardonyx is considered a semiprecious stone, a label given to stones that hold a lesser value than those considered precious. Sardonyx is one of the birthstones for the month of August. It’s associated with the zodiac sign Leo. Sardonyx is known for its use to create carved gems known as cameos. Example: I wear this sardonyx cameo amulet because I was born in August.
Etymology
Origin of sardonyx
1300–50; Middle English < Latin < Greek sardónyx; see sard, onyx
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Among the glories here are a lyrical alabaster-and-pearl paten, which may have come from St. Sophia, and an opulent, dappled sardonyx chalice decorated with enamel figures that resemble mini-mosaics.
From Time Magazine Archive
Then he answered me and said, 'These stars are of different tinctures; one is of the sapphire, the other of the sardonyx.
From The Story of Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland and of the new Gospel of Interpretation by Edward Maitland
Hardly less precious than the cameos in sardonyx were the imitations carved out of coloured glass.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various
Only Neech stood out clear-cut as the intagliation of a sardonyx.
From Sinister Street, vol. 1 by Compton MacKenzie
Therein be neither stones nor sticks, Neither red nor white bricks, But for cubits five or six There is most goodly sardonyx And amber laid in rows.
From Poems & Ballads (First Series) by Algernon Charles Swinburne
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.
