Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Lapidary

Lap′i-da-ry

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Lapidaries
(#)
.
[L.
lapidarius
, fr.
lapidarius
pertaining to stone: cf. F.
lapidaire
.]
1.
An artificer who cuts, polishes, and engraves precious stones; hence, a dealer in precious stones.
2.
A virtuoso skilled in gems or precious stones; a connoisseur of lapidary work.
Lapidary’s lathe
,
Lapidary's mill
,
Lapidary's wheel
,
a machine consisting essentially of a revolving lap on a vertical spindle, used by a lapidary for grinding and polishing.

Lap′i-da-ry

,
Adj.
[L.
lapidarius
pertaining to stone: cf. F.
lapidaire
.]
1.
Of or pertaining to the art of cutting stones, or engraving on stones, either gems or monuments;
as,
lapidary
ornamentation
.
2.
Of or pertaining to monumental inscriptions;
as,
lapidary
adulation
.
Lapidary style
,
that style which is proper for monumental and other inscriptions; terse; sententious.

Webster 1828 Edition


Lapidary

LAP'IDARY

,
Noun.
[L. lapidarius, lapis, a stone.]
1.
An artificer who cuts precious stones.
2.
A dealer in precious stones.
3.
A virtuoso skilled in the nature and kinds of gems or precious stones.

LAP'IDARY

,
Adj.
Pertaining to the art of cutting stones. The lapidary style denotes that which is proper for monumental and other inscriptions.

Definition 2024


lapidary

lapidary

English

Noun

lapidary (plural lapidaries)

  1. A person who cuts, polishes, engraves, or deals in gems.
    • 2013, Peter G. Read,Gemmology, Elsevier, p.289
      In the very early days of gemstone fashioning, a polisher or lapidary would cut and polish both diamonds and other gemstones.
  2. An expert in gems or precious stones; a connoisseur of lapidary work.
  3. (archaic) A treatise on precious stones.

Derived terms

  • lapidary's lathe
  • lapidary's mill
  • lapidary's wheel

Adjective

lapidary (not comparable)

  1. Pertaining to gems and precious stones, or the art of working them.
  2. Suitable for inscriptions; efficient, stately, concise; embodying the refinement and precision characteristic of stone-cutting.
    • 2000, Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Knopf/HarperCollins, p. 71
      The sole truth was that supplied by mathematics or by such lapidary propositions as “What's done cannot be undone,” which was irrefutably correct.