opal

In Florio’s A World of Words 1598 as opale, from French opale, from Latin opalus, from Byzantine Greek ὀπάλλιος (opállios), from Sanskrit उपल (upala, “gem, stone”), from उपरि (upári, “the upper millstone”).^[1] Distantly related to over.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊpəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊpəl/
• Rhymes: -əʊpəl

opal (plural opals)

1. (mineralogy) A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO₂·nH₂O.
   1. (gemology) A precious gem, an iridescent gemstone found in the opal-silica mineral substrate (potch)
   • 2012 March, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 14 June 2012, page 128:

     Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)

2. The colour of opal: any shade of blue with bright flecks of other colours, such as white, yellow, and red.
   • 1889, Rudyard Kipling, “Only A Subaltern”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 141:

     The witchery of the dawn turned the grey river-reaches to purple, gold, and opal; and it was as though the lumbering dhoni crept across the splendors of a new heaven.

3. (biology, genetics, biochemistry) A colloquial name used in molecular biology referring to a particular stop codon sequence, "UGA."
4. Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the genus Nesolycaena.

• David Barthelmy (1997–2025) “Opal”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “opal”, in Mindat.org‎^[2], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2025.

• OLAP, POLA, Palo, alop, aplo-, pola

From English opal, from French opale, from Latin opalus, from Byzantine Greek ὀπάλλιος (opállios), from Sanskrit उपल (upala, “gem, stone”), from उपरि (upári, “the upper millstone”).

• Hyphenation: o‧pal

opal

1. (mineralogy) opal

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔpal
• Syllabification: o‧pal

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

opal m inan (related adjective opalowy)

1. (mineralogy) opal

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

opal m inan

1. (Eastern Lublin, Żabno) opał

   na opal ― for burning

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

opal

1. second-person singular imperative of opalić

• opal in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• opal in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Hieronim Łopaciński (1892) “na opal”, in “Przyczynki do nowego słownika języka polskiego (słownik wyrazów ludowych z Lubelskiego i innych okolic Królestwa Polskiego”, in Prace Filologiczne (in Polish), volume 4, Warsaw: skł. gł. w Księgarni E. Wende i Ska, page 220

Borrowed from German Opal or Latin opalus or French opale.

opal n (plural opale)

1. (mineralogy) opal