Agate is a very hard stone which is used to make jewellery.
agate in British English1
(ˈæɡɪt)
noun
1.
an impure microcrystalline form of quartz consisting of a variegated, usually banded chalcedony, used as a gemstone and in making pestles and mortars, burnishers, and polishers. Formula: SiO2
2.
a playing marble of this quartz or resembling it
3. Also called: ruby printing, US and Canadian
(formerly) a size of printer's type approximately equal to 51⁄2 point
Word origin
C16: via French from Latin achātēs, from Greek akhatēs
agate in British English2
(əˈɡeɪt)
adverb
Northern England dialect
on the way
Word origin
C16: a-2 + gate3
Agate in British English
(ˈæɡeɪt)
noun
James (Evershed). 1877–1947, British theatre critic; drama critic for The Sunday Times (1923–47) and author of a nine-volume diary Ego (1935–49)
agate in American English
(ˈægɪt)
noun
1.
a hard semiprecious stone, a variety of chalcedony, with striped or clouded coloring
2.
any of various tools having agate parts, as a burnishing instrument with a tip of agate
3.
a little ball made of this stone or of glass, used in playing marbles
4.
a former small size of printing type, 51⁄2 points
Word origin
ME agaten < OFr agate < ML < L achates < Gr achatēs < ?