lapidary

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A person who cuts and polishes, engraves, or deals in gems and precious stones.
2. (countable, uncountable) The field in which such a person works, a subfield of gemology.
3. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) An expert in gems and precious stones; a connoisseur of lapidary work.
4. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Gems and precious stones collectively; jewellery.
5. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) A treatise on (precious) stones.

Adj

1. (not-comparable) Of or pertaining to gems and precious stones, or the art of working them.
2. (not-comparable) Senses relating to inscriptions.
3. (not-comparable) Senses relating to inscriptions.
4. (archaic, not-comparable, rare) Of or pertaining to stones in general.

Opposite of

concise, taciturn, unverbose

Synonyms

lapidist

lapidarian

lapidarist

succinct

jewelmaker

brief

summary

terse

gem expert

koanlike

nonverbose

concise

elliptical

jeweller

short

stonecutter

Translations

lapidaire

lapidario

lapidar

lapidair

özlü

lapidario

conciso

succinto

cevahirci

lapidari

succint

kurz und bündig

concis

sucinto

conciso

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈlæpɪdəɹi/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: lapidari

Cognate with French: lapidaire

In summary

The noun is derived from Middle English lapidari, lapidarie (“person who cuts, polishes, or engraves precious stones; expert in precious stones; treatise on precious stones”) [and other forms], from Old French lapidaire (“gemsmith, lapidary”) (modern French lapidaire), or from its etymon Latin lapidārius (“(adjective) of stones, stony; (noun) stonecutter”), from lapidis (the genitive singular of lapis (“stone; (poetic) jewel, precious stone”), possibly from Pre-Greek or Proto-Indo-European *lep- (“to peel”)) + -ārius (suffix forming adjectives).
Sense 3.2 (“jewellery”) and sense 3.3 (“treatise on precious stones”) are derived from Latin lapidāria or lapidārium, a noun use of the neuter plural or genitive plural respectively of lapidāris (“of stone”, adjective), from lapidis (the genitive singular of lapis; see above) + -āris (suffix forming adjectives).
The adjective is either:
* a learned borrowing from Latin lapidārius (adjective); or
* derived from the noun.