Ru"by, n.; pl. Rubies. Etym: [F. rubis (cf. Pr. robi), LL. rubinus, robinus, fr. L. rubeus red, reddish, akin to ruber. See Rouge, red.]
1. (Min.)
Definition: A precious stone of a carmine red color, sometimes verging to violet, or intermediate between carmine and hyacinth red. It is a red crystallized variety of corundum.
Note: Besides the true or Oriental ruby above defined, there are the balas ruby, or ruby spinel, a red variety of spinel, and the rock ruby, a red variety of garnet. Of rubies, sapphires, and pearles white. Chaucer.
2. The color of a ruby; carmine red; a red tint. The natural ruby of your cheeks. Shak.
3. That which has the color of the ruby, as red wine. Hence, a red blain or carbuncle.
4. (Print.)
Definition: See Agate, n., 2. [Eng.]
5. (Zoöl.)
Definition: Any species of South American humming birds of the genus Clytolæma. The males have a ruby-colored throat or breast. Ruby of arsenic, Ruby of sulphur (Chem.), a glassy substance of a red color and a variable composition, but always consisting chiefly of the disulphide of arsenic; -- called also ruby sulphur.
– Ruby of zinc (Min.), zinc sulphide; the mineral zinc blende or sphalerite.
– Ruby silver (Min.), red silver. See under Red.
Ru"by, a.
Definition: Ruby-colored; red; as, ruby lips.
Ru"by, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rubied; p. pr. & vb. n. Rubying.]
Definition: To make red; to redden. [R.] Pope.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
27 April 2024
(adjective) remarkable or out of the ordinary in degree or magnitude or effect; “a great crisis”; “had a great stake in the outcome”
Contrary to popular belief, coffee beans are not technically beans. They are referred to as such because of their resemblance to legumes. A coffee bean is a seed of the Coffea plant and the source for coffee. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit, often referred to as a cherry. Just like ordinary cherries, the coffee fruit is also a so-called stone fruit.
