Definition of "emerald" []

• A brilliant green to grass-green transparent variety of beryl, used as a gemstone. (noun)
• A strong yellowish green. (noun)
• Of a strong yellowish green. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "According to Theophrastus, the stone which he calls emerald, and from which large obelists were cut, must have been an imperfect jasper."
• "Considering the particular emerald which is a variety of beryl -- although the name emerald in the trade is applied somewhat loosely to any stone which is of the same colour, or approaching the colour of the beryl variety -- this emerald only differs chemically from the beryl, just described, in possessing an addition of oxide of chromium."
• "The ownership of a gigantic emerald is disputed, and soon the current Lord Attenbury comes to ask for help in proving that it belongs to his family."