琉璃

Chinese
phonetic
simp. and trad.
(琉璃)		 琉 璃
variant forms 瑠璃

Etymology

From an unidentified language in the Western Regions, perhaps a Prakrit language (e.g. Gandhari). Compare Pali veḷuriya (“precious stone, maybe lapis lazuli”), Sanskrit वैडूर्य (vaiḍūrya, “cat's-eye, beryl”).[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

琉璃

  1. (literary, originally) a kind of blue and translucent natural precious stone, probably lapis lazuli
  2. coloured glaze similar to this kind of stone
  3. (literary) Synonym of 玻璃 (bōli, “glass”).
  4. (literary) lamp made from glass
  5. (literary, figuratively) any translucent object

Derived terms
  • 大琉璃草 (dàliúlícǎo)
  • 琉璃世界
  • 琉璃燈／琉璃灯 (liúlídēng)
  • 琉璃瓦 (liúliwǎ)

Descendants
Sino-Xenic (琉璃):

References
  1. 1917, Field Museum of Natural History: 1909, “The Beginnings of Porcelain in China”, Berthold Laufer and Henry Windsor Nichols, The Museum, page 138:
    The glassy paste for the production of ceramic glazes was called liu-li 琉璃 (in the Han Annals 流離) or p'i-liu-li, derived from Prākrit veluriya, Mahārāshṭrī verulia (Sanskrit vaiḍūrya).

Japanese
Kanji in this term
琉 璃
る
Jinmeiyō		 り
Grade: S
on’yomi

Noun

琉璃 (hiragana るり, rōmaji ruri)

  1. Alternative form of 瑠璃: lapis lazuli

Korean
Hanja in this term
琉璃

Noun

琉璃 • (yuri) (hangeul 유리)

  1. Hanja form? of 유리 (“glass”).
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