rock crystaln.
/ˈrɒk ˌkrɪstl/, U.S. /ˈrɑ(k) ˌkrɪstl/ 1. Quartz in the form of transparent colourless crystals (usually hexagonal prisms).
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > rock crystal > [noun]
crystalOE
diamond1591
mountain crystal1598
rock crystal1598
Welsh diamond1705
Irish diamond1774
magne-crystal1870
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > tectosilicate > [noun] > quartz > crystalline quartzes > rock crystal
crystalOE
irisa1387
crystalline1539
rainbow-stone1587
Cornish diamond1591
diamond1591
mountain crystal1598
rock crystal1598
pebble1688
Cornish stone1695
Welsh diamond1705
rainbow crystal1748
quartz crystal1770
Irish diamond1774
1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. lxxxv. 133/1 There is likewise founde in India a kinde of thing much like to Rock-christall, but indeede it is none.
1667 Philos. Trans. 1665–6 (Royal Soc.) 1 362 Rock-Crystal is not fit for Optick-Glasses.
1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 8 Sept. (1965) I. 260 Almost in every room [are] large Lustres of rock chrystal.
1786 S. Henley tr. W. Beckford Arabian Tale 98 Beneath a vast dome, illuminated by a thousand lamps of rock crystal.
1854 B. Powell Pereira's Lect. Polarized Light (ed. 2) 19 Quartz or rock crystal is used, under the name of Brazil pebble, as a refracting medium for spectacles.
1929 G. P. Merrill Minerals from Earth & Sky ii. iv. 226 One such druse yielded about 20,000 pounds of rock crystal.
1986 R. Pollack Teach yourself Fortune Telling iii.58 Most crystal balls today are made of glass and even if you could find a rock crystal ball, it would probably cost a very great deal.
2001 Veranda July–Aug. 58/1 Glassmakers perfected glass that was so clear and bubble-free that it resembled rock crystal.
2. As a count noun: a piece or specimen of this.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > rock crystal > [noun] > piece of
crystal stonea1387
crystala1393
rock crystal1660
crystalline1842
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > tectosilicate > [noun] > quartz > crystalline quartzes > rock crystal > piece of
crystal stonea1387
irisa1387
crystala1393
rock crystal1660
quartz crystal1770
1660 T. Salusbury tr. D. Bartoli Learned Man defended & Reform'd ii. 353 That great Rock-Chrystal, of which Mercator made a Coelestial Globe for Charles the Fifth, enchasing therein Circles of Gold, purest Diamonds of Stars.
1754 P. Templeman Remarks Physics II. 385 I have made the same trials on divers other stones, such as rock crystals, talcs,..different sorts of marble.
1839 H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall xv. 496 Rock-crystals are..somewhat frequent among the quartziferous veins in the granite.
1912 Classical Rev. 26 196/2 Other stones of notable shape, colour, appearance, e.g., belemnites, echinites, rock crystals, globular stones, are accounted as having the same origin.
2006 K. F. Haven Wonders of Land iv. 75 The first recognized crystals were clear rock crystals, a colorless form of quartz thought to be ice frozen so hard that it would never melt.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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