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Opal vs Chalcedony - What's the difference?

opal | chalcedony |

As nouns the difference between opal and chalcedony

is that opal is a mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO2·nH2O while chalcedony is a form of fine-grained quartz that is nearly transparent or has a milky translucence; it fractures conchoidally.

As a proper noun Opal

is {{given name|female|from=English}} from the precious stone, invented in the nineteenth century.

opal

English

(wikipedia opal)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (mineralogy) A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula Si]]O2· n[[water, H2O.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03
  • , author=Lee A. Groat , title=Gemstones , volume=100, issue=2, page=128 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals , peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)}}
  • (biology, genetics, biochemistry) A colloquial name used in molecular biology referring to a particular stop codon sequence, "UGA."
  • Derived terms

    * fire opal * wood opal * opaline * opalesce

    References

    Anagrams

    * ----

    chalcedony

    English

    Noun

    (chalcedonies)
  • A form of fine-grained quartz that is nearly transparent or has a milky translucence; it fractures conchoidally.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2012-03
  • , author=Lee A. Groat , title=Gemstones , volume=100, issue=2, page=128 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony , garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)}}

    See also

    * (noun: types of minerals) agate, chert, flint, moganite * (adjective) conchoidal * (adverb) conchoidally * (noun) break, fracture, flake, shatter * (verb) knapp, break, fracture, flake, shatter