opal

Meaning

Noun

• A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO_2</sub>·nH₂O.
• A colloquial name used in molecular biology referring to a particular stop codon sequence, "UGA."
• Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the genus Nesolycaena (genus).

Origin

• In Florio’s A World of Words 1598 as opale, from French opale, from Latin opalus, from Byzantine Greek ὀπάλλιος, from Sanskrit उपल ("gem, stone"), from उपरि..