turquoise, n. (a.)
(ˈtɜːkwɔɪz, -kɔɪz, təˈkɔɪz, arch. təˈkiːz, ˈtɜːkɪz)
Forms: see below.
[In 15–16th c. turkeis, -keys, a. OF. turqueise, -quaise, later turquoise, fem. of turqueis, -quais, turquois adj. Turkish, in full pierre turquoise, i.e. ‘Turkish stone’ (cf. Marco Polo c. xxxiv ‘pierres qui s'appellent turquesses’) = Pr., Sp. turquesa, Pg. turqueza, It. turchese, med.L. (lapis) turchēsius or turkēsius; = MDu. turcoys, turckois, Du. turkoois, MHG. turkîs, -koys, etc., mod.Ger. türkis, türkiss, Da. turkis, tyrkis, Sw. turkos. So named as coming from Turkestan, where first found, or through the Turkish dominions: cf. also med.L. turchīnus, It. turchino, F. turquin blue, azure. The earliest Eng. form was the OF. and AF. turkeis; this by vowel-progression became turˈkēse, -ˈīse, and by stress-shift, as in other Teutonic languages, ˈturkes, -as, -is; but these forms began before 1600 to be displaced by adoption of the French spelling turquoise, turkois. Ben Jonson stresses ˈturkise, Dr. Johnson ˈturkois, -koise, Milton and Tennyson ˈturkis. Walker and Smart (1846) pronounce turˈkīz, Cent. Dict. and Funk's Stand. tərˈkoiz, tərˈkīz, Webster 1911 turˈkoiz or ˈturkwoiz.]
I. 1. a. A precious stone found in Persia (the true turquoise or oriental turquoise), much prized as a gem, of a sky-blue to apple-green colour, almost opaque or sometimes translucent, consisting of hydrous phosphate of aluminium.
(α) 4–7 turkeis, 5–7 turkeys, 6 turkeies, turquays, turkese, turkies, 7 turcais, torqueis, turquies, -quize, turchis; 6– turkis, 7– turkise (both now archaic).
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. xcvi. (Bodl. MS.) lf. 183 b/2 De Turtogis. Turtogis that hatte Turkeis also is a ȝelow white stone and haþ þat name of the contrey of Turkeis. Þis stone kepeþ and saueþ þe siȝt and bredeþ gladnes and comforte. 1463 in Bury Wills (Camden) 36, I beqwethe to the said Dame Margarete a doubyl ryng departyd of gold with a ruby and a turkeys. 1503 Hawes Examp. Virt. iv. 5 Of vertuous turkeys there was a cheyr. c 1530 Crt. of Love xii, There lacked than, nor emerald so grene, Balais, Turkeis, ne thing to my devise. 1545 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 226 A rynge of golde with a turquays. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. i. 126 Out vpon her,..it was my Turkies, I had it of Leah when I was a Batcheler. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 306 Orient perles & great Turkeses. 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus i. i, True as turkise in the deare lords ring. 1608 Willet Hexapla Exod. 642 It is more like to be the turkeis..the turcais is of a blewish metalline colour. 1616 Bullokar Eng. Expos., Turkise, a precious stone of a silke blew colour. 1634 Milton Comus 894 The azurn sheen Of Turkis blew and Emrauld green. 1648 Gage West Ind. 71 Bracelets of Turkises and of gold likewise. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 40/2 The Turches or Turky stone..some call it Eranus, others Turcois or Torqueis. 1694 Strype Abp. Cranmer iii. i. 308 They seized..a good Turkeys and a Diamond. 1857 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 661 The turf was rich in plots that look'd Each like a garnet or a turkis in it. 1877 W. Jones Finger-ring 158 The turquoise, turkise, or turkey-stone having..been supposed to possess talismanic properties. a 1913 S. Vines Hotel 16 in Oxford Poetry 154 Sapphires and amethysts and wicked Turkises. |
(β) 5–6 turkes, 5–7 turques, (5 torcas, 5–6 Sc. turcas, 6 turkas, torchas, turcasse, tourques, turquez, toorkes, turquesse, turkesse), 6–7 turches.
| 1478 Croscombe Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 6 A ryng gold with a torcas. 1488 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 81 Item, a ryng with a turcas. 1511–12 Ibid. IV. 331 Ane ruby, ane turkas. 1501 Bury Wills (Camden) 91 A ryng of gold w{supt} a toorkes set in. a 1512 Fabyan Will in Chron. Pref. 7 A ryng of gold, sett w{supt} a turques, a dyamaunt, and a ruby. 1518 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 8 A rynge of golde with a stone in hit callede a turkes. 1527 Ibid. 244 Unum annulum cum le torchas. 1530 Palsgr. 282/1 Tourques a precious stone, tourquois. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 4 Lapis, a stone, comprehendeth in it self, a Saphire, a Rubbie, a Christall, a Turkas. 1553 ― Rhet. 209 No Diamonde, no Saphire, no Rubie, no Christall: no Turcasse, no Emerode. 1555 Eden Decades 235 Turquesses are founde in Exer a place of Siech Ismael. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 23 The Turches or Turcois, is of the common sort called Eranus... It is called a Turches for that it is onely found in Turkland or amongst the Turkes. 1599 Warn. Faire Wom. i. 217 You wear a pretty turkesse there, methinks. 1601 Chester Love's Mart. (N. Shaks. Soc.) 107 The Turches being worne in a Ring. 1653 Greaves Seraglio 15 A Basen and Ewer of massive gold, set with Rubies and Turkesses. 1688 [see α]. |
(γ) 6 turkoise, 6–7 turquoys, turcoyse, turquoies, 6–8 turcois, 7–8 turcoise, (turchois), 7–9 turkois, (8 torquois, turkquoise, 9 tourquois), 6– turquoise, -ois.
| 1567 Turcois [see β]. 1601 Holland Pliny xxxvii. viii. II. 619 The best Turquois is that which approcheth nearest to the grasse green of an Emeraud. 1607 Turchois, 1631 Turcois [see b]. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. i. (1686) 42 Crystall..will receive impression from Steel, in a manner like the Turchois. a 1658 Cleveland Common Place Wks. (1677) 166 The Compassionate Turcoise confesseth the Sickness of his Wearer by changing colour. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. iii. 63 Turkois. 1676 Phil. Trans. XI. 755 Turkoises are no where found but in Persia. 1679 Lond. Gaz. No. 1418/4 Lost..a Ring with a large Turquoies of the Old Rock, very good colour. 1747 Mortimer in Phil. Trans. XLIV. 429 This Stone has received its..Name of Turchesia, and Turquoise, from its being most commonly brought from Turky. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede v, The small brown hand..is laden with pearls, diamonds, and turquoises. |
b. In collect. sing., esp. as a substance.
| 1607 Lingua iv. iv, Orient Pearles, and sparkling Diamonds: Beset at the end with Emerauds and Turchois. 1631 Widdowes Nat. Philos. 28 Turcois is darke, of a skie colour, and greenish. 1836 T. Thomson Min., Geol. etc. I. 230 Tourquois seems to have been known to the ancients. 1857 Wood Com. Obj. Sea Shore 64 They..are blue and bright as turquoise, to which jewel they bear some resemblance. 1882 ‘Ouida’ Maremma I. 62 The Ligurian sea, blue as turquoise. 1884 Browning Ferishtah, Melon-seller 35 Ferishtah..passed..To Nishapur, that Elburz looks above—Where they dig turquoise. |
2. More fully turquoise stone: see also Turkey stone, Turkish stone (Turkish a. 2 b). Now rare.
| 1556 N. C. Wills (Surtees 1908) 240 One ring of golde with a turkeys stone in it. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 440 In the gates..there are many Turques-stones. c 1610 in Heriot's Mem. App. vii. (1822) 215 A ring sett with 5 little Turkis stones. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C., Florence 333 An entire image made of one Turchois stone. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 568 Persia contains mines of..above all, turquoise stones. 1831 Ld. Houghton Mem. Many Scenes (1844) 75 This heaven..With richer, but less brilliant, hue, Built up of turkis-stone. |
3. As name for a colour (short for turquoise blue): see 6 b.
| 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. viii. (1856) 61 The blue and white were mixed in a pale turkois. 1860 W. G. Clark in Vac. Tour. 42 A cave with a floor of liquid turquoise. 1876 R. Broughton Joan i. xix, Looking out through the open windows at the absolute turquoise of the heavens. 1878 J. J. Young Ceram. Art (1879) 41 The Chinese value one piece..for the depth of its turquoise. 1881 Porcelain Works, Worcester 35 To the admirers of colour, the Persian turquoise, Imperial yellow,..and other enamels present an interesting series. |
4. a. Lapidaries' name for odontolite: see quot. 1839; also called bone-turquoise and occidental turquoise.
| 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 154 Turquoise is ivory tinged by the blue Calx of Copper. 1819 Odontolite Turquoise [see odontolite (odonto-)]. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts, etc. 744 A totally different kind of turquois, called bone turquois, which seems to be phosphate of lime coloured with oxide of copper. 1868 Dana Min. (ed. 5) 580 Turquoise de vieille roche (in distinction from Odontolite, or T. de nouvelle roche, called also Occidental Turquois). |
b. (See quot.)
| 1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 472/2 s.v. Pottery, These mixtures give a fine white body for ornaments... A body called turquoise has been manufactured to a great extent for a few years past... When glazed, it has the peculiar milky tint of the gem after which it has been named. |
II. attrib. and Comb.
5. a. Simple attrib. ‘of turquoise’: as turquoise bead, turquoise colour, turquoise enamel, turquoise gem, turquoise mine, turquoise miner, turquoise treasure, turquoise work, turquoise working.
| 1662 Merrett tr. Neri's Art of Glass 56 This [sea] salt so calcin'd, keep to make a Blew or Turcois colour. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. App. s.v. Turcois, The pale blue of the natural turcois gem. Ibid., Turcois enamel. 1765 Phil. Trans. LV. 21 Copper..gives the torquois colour to white glass. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxx. 177 Three blue tubercles, like..little turquois beads. 1849 M. Arnold Strayed Reveller 195 Their wealth..Of gold and ivory, Of turquoise-earth and amethyst. 1876 Birch Rede Lect. Egypt 20 Magarah and its turquoise treasures had been lost. 1877 W. R. Cooper Egypt. Obelisks iv. (1878) 16 The copper and turquoise miners of the Wady Magari. 1882 Rep. to Ho. Repr. Prec. Met. U.S. 323 Many ancient turquois workings are found in the neighborhood. 1896 G. M. Stisted True Life of Sir R. F. Burton xv. 377 The Land of Midian is still wealthy; turquoise mines exist. [1906 Outlook 30 June 881/2 In common, doubtless, with the Sinai Bedawys, the Egyptians worshipped the Goddess of the Turquoise.] Ibid. That..the worship of the Turquoise goddess [was] non-Egyptian in nature. 1908 Ch. Times 20 Mar. 392/2 Turquoise and Indian Work for..Zenana Mission. |
b. In sense ‘set or adorned with a turquoise or turquoises, or composed of turquoises’, as turquoise ear-ring, turquoise locket, turquoise ring.
| 1808 Scott Marm. v. x, The fair Queen of France Sent him a Turquois ring. 1868 Ld. Houghton Select. fr. Wks. 60 And turkis-lockets, that no churl Hath fashioned out mechanic-wise. 1896 G. M. Stisted True Life Sir R. F. Burton vii. 164 A red sausage-shaped cushion strung with turquoise rings. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 28 Dec. 1/3 The girl with turquoise eyes and turquoise earrings. |
c. Instrumental, similative, etc., as turquoise-coloured, turquoise-encrusted, turquoise-gemmed, turquoise-hued, turquoise-like, turquoise-studded, turquoise-tinted adjs.; turquoise-berry, a liliaceous Tasmanian herb, Drymophila cyanocarpa, bearing white flowers and blue pendulous berries.
| 1823 C. J. Mathews Jrnl. 13 Nov. in Dickens Life Charles J. Mathews (1879) I. iv. 93 The beautiful turquoise-coloured bay. 1862 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 9 One bound o'er dripping gold a turquoise-gemm'd Circlet of astral flowerets. 1864 Daily Tel. 26 Sept., The turquoise-like water, too, sparkled in the light of the declining day. 1881 Athenæum 4 June 754 A pure turquoise-coloured sky. 1893 J. Ashby-Sterry Naughty Girl xii, A coquettish turquoise-hued tea⁓gown. 1898 Morris Austral Eng. 426/2 Solomon's Seal,..the Tasmanian name for Drymophila cyanocarpa,..also called Turquoise Berry. 1899 Edin. Rev. Jan. 35 The turquoise-tinted feathers of the Kingfisher. 1901 Kipling Kim xiv. 361 A fair-coloured woman with turquoise-studded headgear. 1906 Daily Chron. 23 Mar. 8/1 Her strings of Orient pearls, her turquoise-encrusted heart-lockets. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 24 Nov. 7/2 A gossamer turquoise-coloured scarf, lightly thrown across her shoulders. 1909 Daily Chron. 15 July 4/5 Neck ornament in the form of a turquoise studded serpent. |
6. a. As adj. Of the colour of the turquoise; turquoise-blue.
| 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 125 An alabaster neck, a turcois eie. 1844 Lady G. C. Fullerton Ellen Middleton (1854) II. xiv. 149 The cordon bleu [bird], with his turquoise breast. 1882 B. M. Croker Proper Pride xi, Rising here and there against the turquoise sky were palms. 1891 E. Roper By Track & Trail x. 138 Pools of lovely turquoise water. 1901 [see 5 b]. 1909 Le Queux House of Shadows xviii, Her pretty gown of turquoise chiffon. |
b. With adj. or n. of colour.
| 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 122 A Turcoise blue enamel. 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. I. 279 Wings with from 8 to 10 spots of turquoise blue, bordered with orange. 1863 M. E. Braddon Eleanor's Vict. III. viii. 108 The turquoise-blue eyes shone with a feverish light. 1877 Black Green Past. xii, Beds of turquoise-blue forget-me-nots. 1883 Truth 31 May 769/2 A train and corsage of turquoise blue satin. 1886 Kipling Departm. Ditties, Delilah viii, The wasteful sunset faded out in turkis-green and gold. 1890 Daily News 15 July 5/6 One of the..ladies who wore the beautiful turquoise blue that has been a specialty of this season. |