Ruby

How to spell ruby

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce ruby

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ruby mean?

1. nounA precious gemstone of a deep red colour, a variety of the mineral corundum.
2. adjectiveHaving a deep, rich red colour like that of the gemstone.

Ruby in a sentence

• noun

  The jeweller set a single ruby into the gold band.

• adjective

  He poured a glass of ruby wine for each guest.

• noun

  She inherited a ruby pendant from her grandmother.

• adjective

  The sunset turned the clouds a brilliant ruby shade.

Where does ruby come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin rubeus, meaning 'reddish', which itself grew from ruber, the ordinary Latin word for 'red'. Medieval Latin shortened the idea into rubinus, a 'red stone', and that passed into Old French as rubi or rubis before reaching English in the 1300s as the name for the deep red gemstone. The colour link is so direct that the same ruber root sits inside 'rubric' (originally a heading printed in red) and the chemical element 'rubidium', named for the red lines it shows in a spectrum. Because the stone was prized for its blood-red glow, the word naturally drifted into use as a colour term as well. The spelling is mercifully phonetic, with the single 'b' being the only point a careless writer might double.

How the word is built

• rub- (from Latin ruber/rubeus: red)
• -y (noun/adjective ending via Old French)