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zircon

[zur-kon]
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noun
  1. a common mineral, zirconium silicate, ZrSiO4, occurring in small tetragonal crystals or grains of various colors, usually opaque: used as a refractory when opaque and as a gem when transparent.
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Origin of zircon

1785–95; < German Zirkon; see jargon2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for zircon

Historical Examples

  • Zircon, engrossed in a theoretical problem, scarcely noticed.

    The Electronic Mind Reader

    John Blaine

  • The truly refined people are those who have got three garnets and one zircon.

    Dodo's Daughter

    E. F. Benson

  • I'll tell Zircon this when he comes, but you can be thinking it over in the meantime.

  • Zircon handed some money to the coolies and ordered them to wait.

  • One of the policemen pointed to Zircon's bloodstained sleeve.

British Dictionary definitions for zircon

zircon

noun
  1. a reddish-brown, grey, green, blue, or colourless hard mineral consisting of zirconium silicate in tetragonal crystalline form with hafnium and some rare earths as impurities. It occurs principally in igneous rocks and is an important source of zirconium, zirconia, and hafnia: it is used as a gemstone and a refractory. Formula: ZrSiO 4
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Word Origin

C18: from German Zirkon, from French jargon, via Italian and Arabic, from Persian zargūn golden
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for zircon

n.

1794, new name given in chemistry to jacinth, from German Zirkon (cf. French jargon, Italian giargone), from Arabic zarqun "cinnabar, bright red," from Persian zargun "gold-colored," from Avestan zari- "gold-colored," from zar "gold."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
zircon in Science

zircon

[zûr′kŏn′]
  1. A brown, reddish to bluish, gray, green, or colorless tetragonal mineral that occurs in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, and especially in sand. The colorless varieties are valued as gems. Chemical formula: ZrSiO4.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.