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Gemstones, Minerals, & Metals Vocabulary

Here is a list of Gemstones, Minerals, and Metals vocabulary that I have found very useful in my design purposes for naming places or things.

Amber - Yellow or yellow-brown fossilized resin that comes from coniferous trees that are now extinct. Ancient Roman jewelers used it as a gemstone.

Cameo - A picture carved into the colored layers of semiprecious stone or colored layers of glass.

Carnelian - A red or reddish-orange kind of quartz used as a gemstone in jewelry.

Electrum - A mixture of gold and silver. This occurred naturally in Asia Minor and was made into coins throughout ancient Greece.

Emery - A hard, greyish-black rock used for smoothing and polishing.

Gild - To cover in gold leaf. An object that has been through this process is called "gilded."

Gold leaf - A very thin sheet of beaten gold.

Iron - A strong metal used to make tools and parts of some buildings. It is found in certain types of rocks and is removed by very high temperatures.

Jade - An extremely hard mineral. the jade in ancient China was nephrite, a white stone streaked with reds or browns. The more familiar green jadeite was not known in China until much later.

Lapis lazuli - A brilliant blue mineral that is used as a gemstone.

Obsidian - A dark glass made by a volcanic explosion. It is formed when lava hardens quickly. Obsidian is sharp and cuts well. it was valuable to ancient peoples who made utensils from it.

Pumice - A lightweight stone that comes from a volcano.

Steel - A strong metal made from iron and carbon melted together at a very high temperature.

Sulphur (European)/Sulfur(American) - A chemical ingredient used in gunpowder.

Turquoise - A blue-green stone imported from the Sinai Peninsula.