Word.ws English Dictionary

beryl

/ˈbɛɹ.əl/

beryl noun: a mineral of pegmatite deposits, often used as a gemstone (molecular formula Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈).

beryl: a mineral of pegmatite deposits, often used as a gemstone (molecular formula Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈)
Image: de:MarianSz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

beryl (countable and uncountable, plural beryls)

  1. (uncountable) A mineral of pegmatite deposits, often used as a gemstone (molecular formula Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈).
    • The sunset had been magnificent, and the Thames was floating in dark radiance; the waves wearing that transparent clearness, which gives more the idea of melted beryl, than aught else: every little circle in the water had that trembling light which characterises precious stones.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Fête”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 57
    • 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.2012 March, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2012, page 128
  2. (countable) An example (a stone) of the mineral beryl.
    • The crown was set with six beryls of excellent size and color.
    • The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl […]1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 1:16
  3. (uncountable) A dull blueish green color.

Adjective

beryl (not comparable)

  1. Of a dull bluish green colour.

Proper noun capitalized: Beryl

Beryl

  1. A female given name from English derived from the gem beryl.
  2. (rare) A male given name from Yiddish, meaning “little bear”.
  3. A locality in the Mid-Western council area, eastern New South Wales, Australia.

beryl meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Tagalog

beryl in Hindi

gem
विडूर viḍūr, वैडूर्य vaiḍūrya, वैदूर्य vaidūrya

beryl in Tamil

காமதகம், பெரில்

beryl in Bengali

gem
বেরিলো berilō

beryl in Tagalog

gem
berilyo
More languagesFewer languages
beryl in Thai
เบริล bee rin

Forms of beryl

Noun
pluralberyls
Proper noun
alternative formBerel

Origin of beryl

Inherited from Middle English beryl, from Old French beril, from Latin bērillus, bēryllus, from Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos, “beryl”), in turn borrowed from Middle Indic forms like Pali veḷuriya or Prakrit 𑀯𑁂𑀭𑀼𑀮𑀺𑀅 (verulia), from Dravidian, probably named after Velur (modern day Belur) in southern India.

From beryl or an anglicization of Yiddish בערל (berl, literally “little bear”).

Words formed from beryl

Words that rhyme with beryl

Questions about beryl

What does beryl mean?
Beryl means a mineral of pegmatite deposits, often used as a gemstone (molecular formula Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈).
What is beryl in Hindi?
Beryl in Hindi is विडूर (viḍūr), वैडूर्य (vaiḍūrya), वैदूर्य (vaidūrya). See Beryl meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is beryl?
Beryl can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce beryl?
Beryl is pronounced /ˈbɛɹ.əl/.
What is the plural of beryl?
The plural of beryl is beryls.

Words near beryl in the dictionary

  1. berycid
  2. berycids
  3. beryciform
  4. beryciforms
  5. berycoid
  6. beryl
  7. beryl-spangled tanager
  8. beryl-spangled tanagers
  9. beryline
  10. berylium
  11. beryllate

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: beryl (page history and authors); Beryl (page history and authors); beryl (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-beryl.wav.

Cite this entry: “beryl.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/beryl. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.