lapis
- noun
- /ˈlæpɪs/
:
lapislázuli
- The artist used lapis as a pigment in her painting to achieve a vibrant blue hue.
- lapis lazuli
- lapis blue
Examples
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In ancient times, lapis was crushed to create a stunning pigment for manuscripts and artwork.
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The deep blue color of the sky was reminiscent of the lapis pigment used in Renaissance art.
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The market for precious goods such as lapis collapsed.
Academic text (2011) -
The inspiration seemed harmless at the time, I assure you, and the lake was unbearably beautiful, blue as lapis, even with the rain coming on.
Fiction book (1994) -
The city's artisans worked lapis lazuli, silver, lead, turquoise, and other materials imported from as far away as eastern Afghanistan, as well as shells from the distant Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.
Academic text (2011) -
(Ironically, the term nephrite derives from the Latin lapis nephriticus, coined by Europeans to apply to Mesoamerican jade.
Academic text (1992)
Synonyms
1
6.8
A deep bright blue paint color first made from a stone called lapis lazuli and now often made artificially
An intense blue pigment made by people for use in painting
A bright deep blue colour used for paint and cloth
Compounds
How Blue
Surface Forms
Etymology
Lapis comes from Latin and means 'stone', and the compound lapis lazuli joins lapis with lazuli, a word related to 'azure' which means 'blue'. Artists ground that blue stone into a fine powder to make a very rich blue paint, so lapis came to mean the deep blue pigment used in painting.