Other forms: agates
Agate is a banded stone with rings of colour through it. A polished agate, agate slices, banded agate.
The bands form as mineral-rich water fills a cavity in layers over a very long time, which is why no two are alike. It takes dye readily, so the vivid blue and pink slices sold in shops are almost always coloured.
1nounagateA banded stone with rings of colour through it.
“On the beach she found a small agate, its layers glowing when she held it up to the sun.”
agate is a stone.
Greek achates names the stone, said by Pliny to come from a Sicilian river of that name.
Ancient Greek
ἀχάτης — agate
Latin
achatēs
Middle French
agathe
English, today
agate
From Middle French agathe, from Latin achatēs, from Ancient Greek ἀχάτης (“agate”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA