Beryl - Etymology

Etymology

The name beryl is derived (via Latin: beryllus, Old French: beryl, and Middle English: beril) from Greek βήρυλλος beryllos which referred to a "precious blue-green color-of-sea-water stone" and originated from Prakrit veruliya (वॆरुलिय‌) and Pali veḷuriya (वेलुरिय); veḷiru (भेलिरु) or, viḷar (भिलर्), "to become pale"; ultimately from Sanskrit वैडूर्य vaidurya-, which is of Dravidian origin, maybe from the name of Belur or Velur. The term was later adopted for the mineral beryl more exclusively. The Late Latin word berillus was abbreviated as brill- which produced the Italian word brillare meaning "shine", the French word brille meaning "shine", the Spanish word brillo, also meaning "shine", and the English word brilliance.

Read more about this topic:  Beryl

Famous quotes containing the word etymology:

    Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.
    Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)

    The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.
    Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)