A hard, transparent to translucent mineral that occurs in various colors and includes precious stones like emerald and aquamarine. Pure beryl is colorless, but impurities create different colored varieties.
From Old French beryl, from Latin beryllus, borrowed from Greek βήρυλλος (bēryllos). The Greek word likely came from a Dravidian language of South India, possibly related to the city of Belur in Karnataka, India, which was famous for beryl mining. The word entered English in the 13th century through French.
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