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amethyst.

A transparent purple to violet variety of quartz with traces of manganese, used as a gemstone.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈæm.ə.θɪst//ɛm-/US, also
  1. A transparent purple to violet variety of quartz with traces of manganese, used as a gemstone.

  2. A purple colour.

    uncountable
  3. The tincture purpure, when blazoning by precious stones.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English ametist, from Old French ametiste (French améthyste), from Ancient Greek ἀμέθυστος (améthustos, “not drunk”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + μεθύω (methúō, “to be drunk”), from μέθυ (méthu, “wine”). The name was based on the ancient belief that amethyst gemstones could prevent intoxication. People in ancient Greece and Rome would wear amethyst or drink from cups made of amethyst to ward off the effects of alcohol.

adj/ˈæm.ə.θɪst//ɛm-/US, also
  1. Having a colour similar to that of the gemstone

Where this word comes from

From Middle English ametist, from Old French ametiste (French améthyste), from Ancient Greek ἀμέθυστος (améthustos, “not drunk”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + μεθύω (methúō, “to be drunk”), from μέθυ (méthu, “wine”). The name was based on the ancient belief that amethyst gemstones could prevent intoxication. People in ancient Greece and Rome would wear amethyst or drink from cups made of amethyst to ward off the effects of alcohol.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.