onyx
pronunciation
How to pronounce onyx in British English:
UK [ˈɒnɪks]
How to pronounce onyx in American English:
US [ˈɑnɪks]
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- Noun:
- a chalcedony with alternating black and white bands; used in making cameos
Word Origin
- onyx
- onyx: [13] Greek ónux meant ‘claw, fingernail’ (it is distantly related to English nail). Certain sorts of onyx are pink with white streaks, and a resemblance to pink fingernails with their paler crescent-shaped mark at the base led the Greeks to name the stone ónux. The word travelled to English via Latin onyx and Old French onix.=> nail
- onyx (n.)
- mid-13c., from Old French oniche "onyx" (12c.), and directly from Latin onyx (genitive onychis), from Greek onyx "onyx-stone," originally "claw, fingernail" (see nail (n.)). So called because the mineral's color sometimes resembles that of a fingernail, pink with white streaks.
Example
- 1. Onyx promotes vigor , steadfastness , stamina and relieves excess pressure .
- 2. In the fourth row a chrysolite , an onyx and a jasper .
- 3. Onyx , sard and sardonyx all have a hardness rating of 7 .
- 4. Two large onyx panthers stand in the entrance , and there 's a larger-than-life statue of a roman god in his gym but no expensive artwork on the walls .
- 5. Onyx , believed to inspire deep thoughts , is usually used for rosary beads in the catholic church .