Definition of AGATE

Examples of agate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Pictured above: Hemmerle emerald, agate, and sapphire necklace; diamond and bronze bangle, and earrings, all with ancient Egyptian faiance amulets. — Stellene Volandes, Town & Country, "The Secret Global Network of Private Super Jewelers," 20 Sep. 2018 Photo: Allied Kitchen & Bath Agate Homeowners who want an exotic look often turn to agate. — Robyn A. Friedman, WSJ, "Countertops Limited Only by Your Budget and Imagination," 26 Dec. 2018 Some designers go further, opting to showcase the agate by backlighting it with LED lights. — Robyn A. Friedman, WSJ, "Countertops Limited Only by Your Budget and Imagination," 26 Dec. 2018 The designer has collaborated with online and paper stationery brand Paperless Post to create a collection of 50 invitations and cards with her gorgeous, signature details such as agate patterns, geometric shapes, bronze motifs, and more. — Sarah Yang, House Beautiful, "Chic Invites: Kelly Wearstler's New Collection for Paperless Post," 15 Oct. 2013 So go ahead and sling New Age strands—from the more literal, like Diane Kordas’s agate rosary cross, to the more contemporary, like Carolina Bucci’s one-of-a-kind Recharmed necklace—that nod to the real deal ’round your neck. — Madeline Nastala, Vogue, "Say a Little Prayer With These Modern Rosary-Inspired Beads," 4 May 2018 Near a window, a table displays orbs—agate, quartz, malachite, marble—made by her father, a connoisseur of semiprecious stones. — Nancy Hass, ELLE Decor, "A Milan Ceramicist Brings Her Family’s Artisanal Aesthetic to Life at Home," 4 Oct. 2018 Think baroque seed pearls, strung with bits of glass, and polished agate and bulbs of orange turquoise. — Monica Kim, Vogue, "SVNR’s Colorful Keepsake Earrings Turn Forgotten Objects Into Chic Mementos," 13 July 2018 But combined with lapis lazuli, turquoise, tiger’s eye, agate stones, and freshwater pearls, the wire used in these traps has become stunning jewelry with a global market. — Staff, The Christian Science Monitor, "Meanwhile in ... Cambodia, 'hero rats' are helping with mine clearance," 14 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'agate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for agate

Middle English achates, accate, agaten, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French achate, agathe, borrowed from Latin achātēs, borrowed from Greek achā́tēs, of uncertain origin

Note: According to Theophrastus and Pliny, the stone was named after a river in Sicily. Modern etymologists seem disinclined to believe this and suggest that the river was named after the stone. The voiced stop in the medieval French forms, which has become the dominant form in Modern French and English, begins to appear in Medieval Latin, and may be owed to Medieval Latin agapis, a word of obscure origin used for both the agate and lapis lazuli; it has been suggested that agapis is itself a distortion of achates (crossed with Latin lapis "stone"?), though this is far from clear.

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