Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
💎 Gemstone cutter 💎 About gemstones
lapidary

lapidary

1 9.9
Relating to cutting, shaping, or polishing precious stones
  • adjective
  • /ˈlæpɪˌdɛri/
  • Specialized
translation icon : lapidario
  • The lapidary techniques used in this jewelry have been passed down for generations.
  • lapidary quality
  • lapidary stones

Examples

  • She admired the lapidary craftsmanship of the intricately carved gemstone.

  • A lapidary masterpiece, generous and just.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Gene wrote lapidary prose.

    Academic text (2014)

  • Scofield's annotations are lapidary, vigorous, and unequivocal.

    Academic text (2006)

  • This preference has led some readers to remark that the poet aspires to produce writings that would have the qualities of stone: lapidary writings, solid, fixed, and eternal.

    Academic text (1993)

  • On the central angel, these garments are respectively of rich flat chocolate, tinged with red, and of a brilliant lapidary blue, a color so emphatic, yet so reserved, that in all nature I can think of no analogy for it.

    Academic text (1990)

  • At the museum, we learned about the lapidary process of polishing diamonds.

Synonyms

glyptic
vslapidary
  • Specialized
9.9

Relating to carving or engraving on gems

focuses on precious stones broadly, including cutting and polishing beyond carving

Surface Forms

lapidary positive

Etymology

Lapidary comes from the Latin lapis, meaning 'stone', so it describes things that have to do with precious stones or the art of cutting and polishing them.