Also avant-. [a. F. aventurine, ad. It. avventurino, f. avventura chance; so called from its accidental discovery.]
1. A brownish-colored glass interspersed with small gold-colored spangles, manufactured first at Murano, near Venice. Also called Artificial aventurine, Aventurine glass, Gold flux.
1811. Pinkerton, Petral., II. 461. With an effect resembling aventurine.
1883. W. Williams, in Gentl. Mag., July, 94. Aventurine … is a kind of glass of a pale brownish colour, brown pink I should call it. Bedded and suspended in this are innumerable brilliant gold-like spangles.
2. transf. A variety of quartz, spangled with yellow scales of mica, resembling the preceding in appearance.
1858. Tennant, Catal. Brit. Foss., 77. Earthy Minerals—Rock Crystal, Amethyst, Cairngorm, Avanturine.
1861. C. King, Ant. Gems (1866), 63. The true Aventurine, or Goldie-stone … takes a high polish.
1863. Watts, Dict. Chem., I. 476. Aventurin or Avanturin.
3. The color or appearance of aventurine.
1791. Hamilton, Berthollet’s Dyeing, II. II. III. vii. The wax is coloured … for aventurine or gold-colour with orpiment.
4. attrib. Aventurine glass (see 1); aventurine glaze, a glaze for porcelain which produces a similar gold-spangled brown color; aventurine felspar or sunstone, a mixture of oligoclase and orthoclase spangled with yellowish or reddish crystals; aventurine quartz (see 2).
1875. Ure, Dict. Arts, I. 277. Aventurine glass owes its golden iridescence to a crystalline separation of metallic copper from the mass coloured brown by the peroxide of iron.
1816. P. Cleaveland, Min., 269. Aventurine Feldspar … contains little spangles or points, which reflect a brilliant light.
