onyx

Noun

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

a chalcedony with alternating black and white bands; used in making cameos

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Onycha \On"y*cha\, n. [NL., from L. onyx, -ychis, onyx, also, a kind of mussel, Gr. ?, ?. See Onyx.] [1913 Webster]

1.An ingredient of the Mosaic incense, probably the operculum of some kind of strombus. --Ex. xxx. 34. [1913 Webster]

2.The precious stone called onyx. [R.] [1913 Webster]

Onyx \O"nyx\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ? a claw, finger nail, a veined gem. See Nail, and cf. Onycha.]

1.(Min.) Chalcedony in parallel layers of different shades of color. It is used for making cameos, the figure being cut in one layer with the next as a ground. [1913 Webster]

2.Same as Mexican onyx. [PJC]

3.A deep jet-black color. [PJC]

Onyx marble, Mexican onyx, a banded variety of marble or calcium carbonate resembling onyx. It is obtained from Mexico in various colors ranging from white to deep black. [1913 Webster +PJC]

onyx \o"nyx\, a. Deep, jet-black. [PJC]

Chalcedony \Chal*ced"o*ny\ (k[a^]l*s[e^]d"[-o]*n[y^] or k[a^]l"s[-e]*d[-o]*n[y^]; 277), n.; pl. Chalcedonies (-n[i^]z). [ L. chalcedonius, fr. Gr. CHalkhdw`n Chalcedon, a town in Asia Minor, opposite to Byzantium: cf. calc['e]doine, OE. calcidoine, casidoyne. Cf. Cassidony.] (Min.) A cryptocrystalline, translucent variety of quartz, having usually a whitish color, and a luster nearly like wax. [Written also calcedony.] [1913 Webster]

Note: When chalcedony is variegated with with spots or figures, or arranged in differently colored layers, it is called agate; and if by reason of the thickness, color, and arrangement of the layers it is suitable for being carved into cameos, it is called onyx. Chrysoprase is green chalcedony; carnelian, a flesh red, and sard, a brownish red variety. [1913 Webster]