Peridot Etymology: The Origins Of Peridot

As discussed in the previous part in this series on Peridots etymology, the Septuagints Topazion of 300 B.C. featured in the Second Temples breastplate, denotes what we call Peridot. However, it is very unlikely that Peridot was the Pitdah gemstone of the First Temples breastplate originating from the Israelite Exodus of 1444 B.C. We can conclude this, as Peridots discovery took place around the same time as the Septuagints translation of the Hebrew Bible, under the reign of the Pharaoh Ptolemy II, circa 300 B.C. In addition, we know that the Septuagints misappropriation of Topazion led to the misnomer of the 1611 King James Version, denoting it as Topaz. But what of the word Peridot and its etymological roots, how did it receive its current moniker?

The origin of the word Peridot itself is unclear. However, one thing is sure, that the term was not in existence before the 1st Century A.D. at the time of Pliny: As he clearly refers to Peridot from the Island of Zabargad as Topazion. In fact this term was used to denote Peridot up until the fall of the Roman Empire.

During Plinys time it was not uncommon that gemstones received more than one name, and that unrelated gems share names in common: a modern example of this is Olivine and Chrysolite, both used to denote Peridot. Another generic appendage was Paederos (Greek for: Beautiful Youth), or Pederote, (Latin: pronounced Ped-or-oat): employed by Pliny to denote amethyst and opal. Pederote, was also used by the Roman public at large to refer to good-looking gems.

Towards the end of the Roman Empire, Western Europe fell to the barbarians, but in the Near East Roman culture survived within the Byzantine Empire. Under the Byzantines, words and languages bequeathed by the previous Greek and Roman cultures were continued. Similarly art and culture prospered, especially the skills of the lapidaries. However, soon enough the East became the envy of the West, and under the pious concept of reuniting Christendom with the West, the crusades began. France, with its Templar Knights, was at the forefront of the eight crusades that took place between the 10th and the 12th Centuries A.D. During this time the Templar Knights amassed great wealth in precious metals, jewelry and gemstones: including Peridot. After returning to Europe with their newly acquired wealth, they bought position, titles and lands in the Anglo-Norman kingdom.

It was during the crusades that a perversion of the Roman word Pederote resurfaced. It appeared in the French book Les Lapidaires Franais. written sometime between 1100 and 1250 A.D. The book outlined 60 gems giving their medicinal value, magical properties and moral significations: one of the featured gems was the Pedorets (pronounced Peh-door-ret). The Lapidaire Franais. was written specifically for the use of the educated Norman aristocracy who also occupied England at the time. The first recorded instance of this word in popular use by the aristocracy appears in a 11th Century message written by the French lord, Mont Cassin de Solinus, where he uses a word to describe a green gemstone: Perodote (pronounced Peh-roh-doh).

However, comparing the earlier Roman Pedorets (Peh-doh-ret) with the French Perodote (Peh-roh-doh) we can hear that there has been a reversal of the second and third syllable. In linguistics this is called Metathesis: a phenomenon where two sounds appearing in particular order in one word, overtime will occur in the reverse order in the same word. French etymologists from the Acadmie Franais believe that this explains the shift in Pederote.

The excerpt below was taken from a later book Lapidaire Des Pierres Graves documenting the etymology of Peridot in France from the 13th Century onwards. It gives Peridots name during the 13th Century as Peridol (pronounced Peh-rii-dole), and as Peridon (pronounced Peh-rii-dohn) during the later 14th Century.

Peridon (Peridol) [Peridot gemstone, also called green-yellowish olivine. A gem called peridon enclosed in gold. xx sols t, (invoice of the Duke of Berry, year 1416.)- viii gemstones of which there were a grenas, a lopue, an ametiste and a peridol (invoice of the Duke of Anjou year 1360.]

As mentioned before, the Norman French occupied England during this period, and the aristocracy imposed their language upon their English subjects. This greatly influenced the development of the English language: causing Old French words to be assimilated into the Middle English language. However, Peridot wasnt the only alias to be appropriated to the green gemstone from these sources. Up until the 19th Century A.D. another Greek word was also used to denote Peridot and other gemstones similar in aspect: Chrysolite. This originally came from the Greek Khrysolithos, Khryso meaning golden and Lithos meaning stone. It transformed into Chrysolithus in Latin, and Crisolite in Old French, eventually becoming Chrysolite in Middle English.

In 1112 A.D., including Chrysolite with a poem in tribute to Adam and Eve, the French poet Philippe de Thaon wrote: Crisolite ure celeste, qui ourent out vie terrestre. Translated the passage reads: Chrysolite the celestial happiness, which they had with the terrestrial life. However, there is no conclusive proof to indicate that he was talking of our Peridot, as Chrysolite was also used to describe the majority of all yellow to yellow-green transparent gemstones including: topaz, prehnite, apatite, sapphire, chrysoberyl, beryl, tourmaline, and andradite garnet. By todays standards such an inaccurate, generic term is disused.

A similar term of equally broad connotations has also been appropriated to Peridot: Olivine. This originated from the Greek Elaiw or Elai, transforming to the Latin Olva and eventually to the French Olivine. In 17th Century France it was a jewelers term for a variety of their Chrysolite, today it is a term used to denote one of the most common mineral types on the Earths surface, a magnesium/iron silicate in which the ratio of magnesium and iron vary between the two mineral extremities: Forsterite (Mg2SiO4) and Fayalite (Fe2SiO4). Peridot is actually a rare sub-species of the Olivine group: Forsterite-Olivine. Forsterite, the mineralogical term used to denote the Olivine species Peridot, was named in honor of the German mineralogist J. R. Forster.

Read Peridot Sterling Silver Jewelry Etymology Part I In the Beginning

Read Peridot Sterling Silver Jewelry Etymology Part II The Pitdah In The First Temples Breastplate

Read Peridot Sterling Silver Jewelry Etymology Part III The Topazion In The Second Temples Breastplate

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