lazuli

IPA/lˈazjʊlˌaɪ/
KK[ləzˈuli]IPA/ləzˈuːliː/

lazuli — noun

1. a dark blue stone with small shiny gold-coloured marks, valued as a semi-preciou

1.nounC1
Definition

a dark blue stone with small shiny gold-coloured marks, valued as a semi-precious jewel and used in jewellery, carvings, and ground into a powder for use as a pigment in painting

Example

Camila wore a small lazuli pendant around her neck to the wedding.

collocation: lazuli pendant / ring / necklace

The artist ground lazuli into a fine powder to make ultramarine paint for the portrait.

historical use: ground into pigment for painting

Common collocations
  • piece of lazuli
  • lazuli pendant
  • lazuli ring
  • lazuli stone
  • polished lazuli
  • carved lazuli
  • ground lazuli
  • deep blue lazuli
  • genuine lazuli
Synonyms
  • lapis lazuli

    the full, more formal name of the same stone; interchangeable in most contexts but preferred in scientific and technical writing

  • ultramarine

    the vivid blue pigment ground from lazuli, or its synthetic imitation; not the stone itself

Grammar Patterns

lazuli (uncountable - material)

a piece/slab/fragment of lazuli

a lazuli (countable - a specimen/stone)

Usage Note

Countable use ("a lazuli") is rare and usually refers to a specific carved piece or mineral specimen; the material itself is uncountable. Distinguish the shortened form lazuli from the full name lapis lazuli — they are interchangeable in most contexts, though lapis lazuli is more formal and technical.

Common Mistakes

She bought a lazuli necklace' (if lazuli is treated as a colour adjective).
She bought a necklace made of lazuli' or 'She bought a lapis lazuli necklace.
lazuli is a noun referring to the gemstone, not an adjective describing a colour.

Word family

  • lapis lazuli
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Lazuli and lapis lazuli refer to the same gemstone; the shorter form is an everyday shortening of the formal name, much like "phone" from "telephone." Sodalite is a closely related blue mineral that is often mistaken for lazuli because it looks similar at a glance, but it typically lacks the gold-coloured pyrite flecks that give real lazuli its sparkle, and it is cheaper and less prized. Azurite is another blue mineral with a deeper, greener-blue hue and no pyrite inclusions; it was also used as a pigment in historical paintings but is more brittle and less common in jewellery. If you see gold flecks, you are likely looking at genuine lazuli rather than sodalite or azurite.

lapis lazulisodaliteazurite

Common collocations

Nouns

  • lazuli pendant
  • lazuli ring
  • lazuli necklace
  • lazuli bead
  • lazuli stone
  • lazuli carving
  • lazuli pigment
  • lazuli fragment

Phrases

  • piece of lazuli
  • slab of lazuli
  • shade of lazuli
  • deep blue of lazuli

Prepositions

  • inlaid with lazuli
  • set with lazuli
  • made of lazuli
  • carved from lazuli

Etymology

PersianArabicMedieval LatinEnglish

Lazuli is a shortening of the older compound lapis lazuli. Lapis is Latin for 'stone.' Lazuli traces back through Medieval Latin to Arabic lāzuward (لازورد), which itself came from Persian lājvard (لاجورد), the name of a famous blue stone mined in what is now Afghanistan. Over centuries, the Persian word also gave English the colour name azure. In everyday English, the full form lapis lazuli is still common, but lazuli alone began appearing as a convenient shorter form in the 1800s.