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ArchivesRe: Name Peridot
in reply to a message by bubblybabe518
Peridot is the name of a light yellow-green gemstone (the birthstone for August). Dictionary.com states that it's actually of Middle English from Old English origin, though another site (http://snipurl.com/bw3k) says that it derives from French peritot, which is of unknown meaning, or Arabic faridat "gem".
The Hebrew name for peridot is pitdah, while the Greeks and Romans referred to it as topazion or topazius. The latter resulted in a confusion between peridot and the unrelated gemstone today known as topaz (a birthstone for November); later, "topaz" was reserved exclusively for the latter jewel, to end the confusion.
Jewelers also formerly used the term chrysolite ("golden stone" in Latin) for peridot, somewhat oddly considering the jewel is more green than gold in colour.
Wikipedia also has a stub on the gemstone peridot: http://snipurl.com/bw3i.
At any rate, Peridot as a name (for people or gems) is clearly probably not of Greek origins, and does not mean "precious jewel" (just possibly "gem", which can be precious or semi-precious). If derived from the Arabic source, then Peridot could conceivably be considered a roundabout variation of Gemma in meaning, but otherwise the two names are entirely unrelated. (Gemma, after all, refers to generic jewels and Peridot refers specifically to one type of gemstone. Therefore, saying Peridot is a variant of Gemma is kind of like saying Flower's a variant of Daisy.)
Miranda
The Hebrew name for peridot is pitdah, while the Greeks and Romans referred to it as topazion or topazius. The latter resulted in a confusion between peridot and the unrelated gemstone today known as topaz (a birthstone for November); later, "topaz" was reserved exclusively for the latter jewel, to end the confusion.
Jewelers also formerly used the term chrysolite ("golden stone" in Latin) for peridot, somewhat oddly considering the jewel is more green than gold in colour.
Wikipedia also has a stub on the gemstone peridot: http://snipurl.com/bw3i.
At any rate, Peridot as a name (for people or gems) is clearly probably not of Greek origins, and does not mean "precious jewel" (just possibly "gem", which can be precious or semi-precious). If derived from the Arabic source, then Peridot could conceivably be considered a roundabout variation of Gemma in meaning, but otherwise the two names are entirely unrelated. (Gemma, after all, refers to generic jewels and Peridot refers specifically to one type of gemstone. Therefore, saying Peridot is a variant of Gemma is kind of like saying Flower's a variant of Daisy.)
Miranda
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