chatoyancy
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cat's-eye quartz
cha·toy·ant
(shə-toi′ənt)adj.
Having a changeable luster.
n.
A chatoyant stone or gemstone, such as the cat's-eye.
[French, present participle of chatoyer, to shimmer like cats' eyes, from chat, cat, from Vulgar Latin *cattus, perhaps of African origin.]
cha·toy′an·cy n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
chatoyancy
the condition or quality of changing in color or luster depending on the angle of light, especially of a gemstone that reflects a single shaft of light when cut in cabochon form. — chatoyant, adj.
See also: Gemsthe condition or quality of changing in color or luster depending on the angle of light, especially of a gemstone that reflects a single shaft of light when cut in cabochon form. — chatoyant, adj.
See also: Lightthe condition or quality of changing in color or luster depending on the angle of light, exhibited especially by a gemstone that reflects a single shaft of light when cut in cabochon form. — chatoyant, adj.
See also: Color-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.