Garnet

How to spell garnet

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce garnet

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does garnet mean?

1. nounA glassy, usually deep red semi-precious stone used in jewellery.
2. adjectiveHaving a deep, dark red colour like that of the stone.

Garnet in a sentence

• noun

  The antique ring held a single dark red garnet in its centre.

• adjective

  He painted the front door a rich garnet red to match the brickwork.

• noun

  She chose a garnet for her birthstone because she was born in January.

• adjective

  The curtains were a warm garnet shade that suited the dim room.

Where does garnet come from?

Language of origin: French

Garnet comes from the Old French grenat, which described a deep red stone, and behind that lies the Latin granatum, the word for the pomegranate fruit. The connection is pleasingly literal: the small, glassy red crystals of the gem were thought to resemble the dense cluster of glossy red seeds packed inside a pomegranate. The same granatum root, built on granum meaning 'grain' or 'seed', also gives us 'pomegranate' itself and even the word 'grenade', which was named for its seed-packed shape. English adopted the term in the Middle Ages, where it appeared as 'gernet' before settling into the modern spelling. That buried fruit story explains why the word carries an unstressed second syllable that softens to a faint 'uh' sound, which is exactly where writers can slip.

How the word is built

• garn- (from Latin granatum, pomegranate)
• -et