agate

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈæɡət/ UK /ˈaɡət/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a hard banded variety of chalcedony used as a gemstone

She wore a ring set with a polished green agate.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a hard banded variety of... chalcedonyonyx

Word family

Related forms chalcedony quartz

Etymology

From Middle French agate, from Latin achates, from Ancient Greek akhates, said by Theophrastus to be named after the river Achates in Sicily, where the stone was first found.

achates Latin akhátēs Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# agate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈæɡət/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈaɡət/

## Meanings
1. a hard banded variety of chalcedony used as a gemstone

## Examples
- She wore a ring set with a polished green agate.

## Synonyms
- chalcedony
- onyx

## Related Forms
- chalcedony
- quartz

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: achates
- Root: akhátēs

## Etymology
From Middle French agate, from Latin achates, from Ancient Greek akhates, said by Theophrastus to be named after the river Achates in Sicily, where the stone was first found.

## AI Etymology
agate comes from Middle French agate, from Latin achates, from Ancient Greek akhates, said by Theophrastus to be named after the river Achates in Sicily, where the stone was first found. The path is chiefly one of transmission: an older form is taken into English, with the word's shape and meaning carried through the language names and forms preserved in the history. In modern use, the noun sense is "a hard banded variety of chalcedony used as a gemstone", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as chalcedony, quartz, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Latin achates, Ancient Greek akhátēs, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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