Search

a common mineral, silicate, ZrSiO 4 , occurring in small tetragonal crystals or grains of various colors, usually opaque: used as a refractory when opaque and as a gem when transparent.
Historical Examples

“Possibly you were yelling so loud yourselves you didn’t hear us,” zircon said mildly.
The Caves of Fear John Blaine

zircon, engrossed in a theoretical problem, scarcely noticed.
The Electronic Mind Reader John Blaine

While zircon was piling their overnight bags into the taxi, a farmer rode past on a bicycle.
The Wailing Octopus Harold Leland Goodwin

I’ll tell zircon this when he comes, but you can be thinking it over in the meantime.
The Caves of Fear John Blaine

The exchange of information completed, zircon changed the subject.
The Pirates of Shan Harold Leland Goodwin

Nothing remained but to wait for zircon and make definite plans.
The Caves of Fear John Blaine

zircon took the pistol from Chahda while Scotty found his rifle.
The Pirates of Shan Harold Leland Goodwin

If anyone asks, I can say I want movies of the animals you and zircon shoot.
The Caves of Fear John Blaine

Satisfied that all was well, he started down the steps after zircon.
The Caves of Fear John Blaine

“The Chinese are without a doubt the most polite of all the Eastern peoples,” zircon said.
The Caves of Fear John Blaine

noun
a reddish-brown, grey, green, blue, or colourless hard mineral consisting of zirconium silicate in tetragonal crystalline form with hafnium and some rare earths as impurities. It occurs principally in igneous rocks and is an important source of zirconium, zirconia, and hafnia: it is used as a gemstone and a refractory. Formula: ZrSiO4
n.

1794, new name given in chemistry to jacinth, from German Zirkon (cf. French jargon, Italian giargone), from Arabic zarqun “cinnabar, bright red,” from Persian zargun “gold-colored,” from Avestan zari- “gold-colored,” from zar “gold.”
zircon
(zûr’kŏn’)
A brown, reddish to bluish, gray, green, or colorless tetragonal mineral that occurs in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, and especially in sand. The colorless varieties are valued as gems. Chemical formula: ZrSiO4.