Min. [ad. L. chrȳsobēryll-us (Pliny) = Gr. χρῡσοβήρυλλος a variety of beryl with a golden tinge, f. χρῡσό-ς gold + βήρυλλος ΒERYL.]
† a. A variety of beryl, with a tinge of yellow.
b. A yellowish green gem, in composition an aluminate of glucinum. A variety with a bluish opalescence is cymophane or chrysoberyl cat’s-eye.
[1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVI. xx. (1495), 559. Crisoberillus is a manere kynd of beryll, and pale greynes therof shine towarde colour of golde.]
1661. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., Introd. 86. Some [stones] are green as … chrysoberil.
1751. Chambers, Cycl., Chrysoberyl, a precious stone; being a kind of pale beryl, with a tincture of yellow.
1796. Kirwan, Min. (ed. 2), I. 261. Chrysoberyll. Its colour is a dilute yellowish green, but like an opal it reflects, seemingly from its inside, a mixed colour of bluish green and golden yellow.
1874. Westropp, Precious Stones, 67. The cymophane, or chrysoberyl cat’s-eye, exhibits as it were the pupil of an eye moving about within the stone.
1888. Pall Mall Gaz., 6 Dec., 10/2. ‘The Hindoo Lingam God,’ consisting of a chrysoberyl cat’s-eye fixed in a topaz, and mounted in a pyramidal base studded with diamonds and precious stones.
