overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

ruby.

A clear, deep, red variety of corundum, valued as a precious stone.

4 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɹuː.bi/
  1. A clear, deep, red variety of corundum, valued as a precious stone.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A deep red colour.

    countable · uncountable
  3. The tincture red or gules.

    countable · uncountable
  4. A ruby hummer, a South American hummingbird, Clytolaema rubricauda.

    countable · uncountable
  5. A red bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea rubra.

    countable · uncountable
  6. The size of type between pearl and nonpareil, standardized as 5½-point.

    UK · dated · uncountable
  7. A pronunciation guide written above or beside Chinese characters.

    countable · uncountable
  8. A red spinel.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English ruby, rube, from Old French rubi, from Medieval Latin rubīnus. Doublet of rubi and rubine. Etymology 1 sense 7 (“pronunciation guide”) is from the British 5½-point type size (etymology 1 sense 6), used for annotations in printed documents.

adj/ˈɹuː.bi/
  1. Of a deep, red color; ruby-red.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English ruby, rube, from Old French rubi, from Medieval Latin rubīnus. Doublet of rubi and rubine. Etymology 1 sense 7 (“pronunciation guide”) is from the British 5½-point type size (etymology 1 sense 6), used for annotations in printed documents.

verb/ˈɹuː.bi/
  1. To make red; to redden.

    poetic · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English ruby, rube, from Old French rubi, from Medieval Latin rubīnus. Doublet of rubi and rubine. Etymology 1 sense 7 (“pronunciation guide”) is from the British 5½-point type size (etymology 1 sense 6), used for annotations in printed documents.

noun/ˈɹuː.bi/
  1. Alternative letter-case form of Ruby (“curry”).

    alt-of · slang
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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.