Japanese

瑠璃: a lapis lazuli carving from Qing Dynasty China

Alternative forms

• 琉璃

Noun

瑠璃 ‎(hiragana るり, romaji ruri)

1. lapis lazuli
2. the deep blue color of lapis lazuli: azure
3. common name for various blue thrushes (birds) in family Muscicapidae, such as the 大瑠璃 ‎(ōruri, “blue and white flycatcher, Cyanoptila cyanomelana”) or 小瑠璃 ‎(koruri, “Siberian blue robin, Larvivora cyane, syn. Luscinia cyane”)
4. (mineralogy, geology) lazurite

   The term 青金石 (​seikinseki) is used more specifically for this sense.

Idioms

Derived terms

Synonyms

• (lazurite): 青金石 (せいきんせき) ‎(seikinseki)

References

1. ↑ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
3. ↑ 1985, The Golden Peaches of Samarkand, Edward H Schafer, University of California Press, Los Angeles, 398 pp.
4. ↑ 1917, Field Museum of Natural History: 1909, “The Beginnings of Porcelain in China”, Berthold Laufer and Henry Windsor Nichols, The Museum, p138:

   The glassy paste for the production of ceramic glazes was called liu-li 琉璃 (in the Han Annals 流離) or p'i-liu-li, derived from Prākrit veluriya, Mahārāshṭrī verulia (Sanskrit vaiḍūrya).

5. 1 2 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3