diamond

See also: Diamond

English
A diamond (2), (3)

Pronunciation
  • enPR: dī'(ə)mənd, IPA(key): /ˈdaɪ(ə)mənd/
  • Audio(file)
  • Audio (US)(file)

Etymology 1

From Middle English dyamaunt, from Old French diamant, from Late Latin diamas, from Latin adamas, from Ancient Greek ἀδάμας (adámas, “diamond”).

Noun

diamond (countable and uncountable, plural diamonds)

  1. (uncountable) A glimmering glass-like mineral that is an allotrope of carbon in which each atom is surrounded by four others in the form of a tetrahedron.
    The saw is coated with diamond.
  2. A gemstone made from this mineral.
    • 2012 March 1, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 2, page 128:
      Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are diamond, ruby and sapphire, emerald and other gem forms of the mineral beryl, chrysoberyl, tanzanite, tsavorite, topaz and jade.
    The dozen loose diamonds sparkled in the light.
  3. A ring containing a diamond.
    What a beautiful engagement diamond.
  4. A very pale blue color/colour.
    diamond color:   
  5. Something that resembles a diamond.
  6. (geometry) A rhombus, especially when oriented so that its longer axis is vertical.
  7. (geometry) The polyiamond made up of two triangles.
  8. (baseball) The entire field of play used in the game.
  9. (baseball) The infield of a baseball field.
    The teams met on the diamond.
  10. (card games) A card of the diamonds suit.
    I have only one diamond in my hand.
  11. (printing, uncountable, dated) A size of type, standardised as 4½ point.
Synonyms
Antonyms
  • (baseball: infield of a baseball field): outfield
Derived terms
Terms derived from the noun "diamond"
Translations
diamond ring — see diamond ring
rhombus — see rhombus
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also

Adjective

diamond (not comparable)

  1. made of, or containing diamond, a diamond or diamonds.
    He gave her diamond earrings.
  2. of, relating to, or being a sixtieth anniversary.
    Today is their diamond wedding anniversary.
  3. of, relating to, or being a seventy-fifth anniversary.
    Today is their diamond wedding anniversary.
  4. (slang) First-rate; excellent.
    He's a diamond geezer.
Translations

Verb

diamond (third-person singular simple present diamonds, present participle diamonding, simple past and past participle diamonded)

  1. to adorn with or as if with diamonds
Translations

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Dutch diamant, used by Dirck Voskens who first cut it around 1700, presumably naming it by analogy with the larger Perl.

Noun

diamond (uncountable)

  1. (printing, dated) The size of type between brilliant and pearl, standardized as 4½-point.

Further reading
  • “Diamond” in David Barthelmy, Webmineral Mineralogy Database, 1997–.
  • “diamond”, in Mindat.org‎, Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, accessed 29 August 2016.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.