lapidary
Meanings
Plural: lapidaries
Noun
- an expert on precious stones and the art of cutting and engraving them
- a skilled worker who cuts and engraves precious stones
- A person who cuts and polishes, engraves, or deals in gems and precious stones.
- The field in which such a person works, a subfield of gemology.
- An expert in gems and precious stones; a connoisseur of lapidary work.
- Gems and precious stones collectively; jewellery.
- A treatise on (precious) stones.
Adjective
- of or relating to precious stones or the art of working with them; - Lord Byron
- "the ring is of no lapidary value"
- "lapidary art"
Adj
- Of or pertaining to gems and precious stones, or the art of working them.
- Senses relating to inscriptions.
- Of an inscription: engraved on stone.
- Senses relating to inscriptions.
- Of a piece of writing or a writing style: characteristic of or suitable for an inscription; embodying the precision and refinement of inscriptions on monuments; concise and stately.
- Of or pertaining to stones in general.
Origin / Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English lapidari, lapidarie (“person who cuts, polishes, or engraves precious stones; expert in precious stones; treatise on precious stones”) [and other forms], from Old French lapidaire (“gemsmith, lapidary”) (modern French lapidaire), or from its etymon Latin lapidārius (“(adjective) of stones, stony; (noun) stonecutter”), from lapidis (the genitive singular of lapis (“stone; (poetic) jewel, precious stone”), possibly from Pre-Greek or Proto-Indo-European *lep- (“to peel”)) + -ārius (suffix forming adjectives).
Sense 3.2 (“jewellery”) and sense 3.3 (“treatise on precious stones”) are derived from Latin lapidāria or lapidārium, a noun use of the neuter plural or genitive plural respectively of lapidāris (“of stone”, adjective), from lapidis (the genitive singular of lapis; see above) + -āris (suffix forming adjectives).
The adjective is either:
* a learned borrowing from Latin lapidārius (adjective); or
* derived from the noun.
Synonyms
brief, concise, crisp, gemmologist, gemologist, gemsmith, laconic, lapidarist, lapidary, lapidist, short-winded, succinct, taut, terse, tight, to the point
Scrabble Score: 14
lapidary is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordlapidary is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
lapidary is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary