turquoise

/ˌtʌrˈk(w)ɔɪz/

/ˈtʌkɔɪz/

Other forms: turquoises

If your favorite color is turquoise, it means that you're partial to a particular bluish-green shade.

The color known as turquoise comes from the semi-precious gem of the same name. Chemically, turquoise is a mineral made of copper aluminum phosphate, but you're most likely to be familiar with its polished form, especially in rings and necklaces and belt buckles. Interestingly, the word for this traditionally Native American gem comes from a word that means "Turkish," based on its long-ago introduction from Turkey to other parts of Europe.

Definitions of turquoise

1. noun

   a shade of blue tinged with green
   synonyms: aqua, aquamarine, cobalt blue, greenish blue, peacock blue

   type of:

   blue, blueness

   blue color or pigment; resembling the color of the clear sky in the daytime
2. noun

   a blue to grayish-green mineral consisting of copper aluminum phosphate
   “blue turquoise is valued as a gemstone”

   type of:

   mineral

   solid homogeneous inorganic substances occurring in nature having a definite chemical composition

   opaque gem

   a gemstone that is opaque