sapphire

Meanings

Noun

• A clear deep blue variety of corundum, valued as a precious stone.
• A white, yellow, or purple variety of corundum, either clear or translucent.
• A deep blue colour.
• Any hummingbird in the genera Hylocharis and Chlorestes, as well as the rufous-throated sapphire, which is now in the genus Amazilia.
• Any of the butterflies in the southern Asian lycaenid genus Heliophorus (genus).

Adjective

• of a deep blue colour.
• pertaining to a 45th year

Origin

• From Middle English saphir, from Old French saphir, from Latin sapphir, sappir, sapphīrus, from Ancient Greek σάπφειρος ("precious stone, gem"), from a Semitic language (compare Hebrew סַפִּיר), perhaps ultimately from a non-Semitic source such as Sanskrit शनिप्रिय.