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Gems |
Also found in: Medical, Financial, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.01 sec. |
Gems See also stones. the art or technique of engraving cameos. the condition or quality of changing in color or luster depending on the angle of light, especially of a gemstone that reflects a single shaft of light when cut in cabochon form. — chatoyant, adj. the art of engraving on rings. the scientific knowledge of gems. the science of gemstones. Also spelled gemology. — gemmologist, n. — gemmological, adj. glyptology. 1. an engraving on a gemstone or other small object. 2. the stone or object engraved. the art of carving or engraving upon gemstones. — glyptographer, n. — glyptographic, adj. the science or study of carved or engraved gemstones. Also called glyptic. 1. one who cuts, polishes, or engraves precious stones. 2. a cutter of gemstones, especially diamonds. 3. the art of cutting gemstones. 4. a connoisseur of cut gemstones and the art of their cutting. — lapidarist, n. — lapidarian, adj. a lapidary. 1. an engraving or carving on a gem stone. 2. the stone thus engraved. — lithoglyphic, lithoglyptic, adj. Obsolete, an engraver of precious stones. the art of engraving or carving precious stones. — lithoglyptic, adj. the art of engraving on or designing signet rings. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| ? Mentioned in | ? References in classic literature | |
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But on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-hush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him. A similar superstition was once prevalent, as I have heard, in ancient Greece and Rome; not applying, however (as in India), to a diamond devoted to the service of a god, but to a semi-transparent stone of the inferior order of gems, supposed to be affected by the lunar influences--the moon, in this latter case also, giving the name by which the stone is still known to collectors in our own time. He who wears one of its mates will experience the same feeling; it is caused by an electrical action that takes place the moment two of these gems cut from the same mother stone come within the radius of each other's power. |
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