Definition of "beryl" [ber•yl]

• A transparent to translucent glassy mineral, essentially aluminum beryllium silicate, Be3Al2Si6O18, occurring in hexagonal prisms and constituting the chief source of beryllium. Transparent varieties in white, green, blue, yellow, or pink are valued as gems. (noun)

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.

• "Yellow beryl may be called _golden beryl_, or it may be called"
• "All attempts to melt real emerald or beryl have yielded only a _beryl glass_, softer and lighter than true emerald, and not _crystalline_, but rather glassy in structure."
• "By tarshish the modern yellow topaz is probably intended, while in (Revelation 21: 20) a different stone is perhaps referred to, probably the mineral now called beryl, which is identical with the emerald except in color, being a light green or bluish-green."