opal

---

see also: Opal

---

Etymology

In Florio’s A World of Words 1598 as opale, from French opale, from Latin opalus, from gkm ὀπάλλιος, from Sanskrit उपल, from उपरि ("the upper millstone").

Pronunciation

• (British) IPA: /ˈəʊpəl/
• (America) IPA: /ˈoʊpəl/

Noun

opal (plural opals)

1. (mineral) A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO₂·nH₂O.
   1. (gemology) A precious gem, an iridescent gemstone found in the opal-silica mineral substrate (potch)
2. (biology, genetics, biochemistry) A colloquial name used in molecular biology referring to a particular stop codon sequence, "UGA."
3. Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the genus Nesolycaena.

Translations

• French: opale
• German: Opal
• Italian: opale
• Portuguese: opala
• Russian: опа́л
• Spanish: ópalo

---

Opal

---

Proper noun

1. A female given name from the precious stone, invented in the nineteenth century.
2. (Australia) A type of petrol made by British Petroleum designed to be unable to be used for petrol sniffing.[Developed 2005.]
3. A hamlet in Alberta, Canada
4. A census-designated place in Virginia
5. A town in Wyoming

---

This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002