lap|i|dar|y

lap|i|dar|y «LAP uh _DEHR ee», noun, plural -dar|ies, adjective.

–n.

1. a) a person who cuts, polishes, or engraves precious stones. b) an engraver of stone monuments.

2. the art of cutting precious stones.

3. an expert in precious stones or in the art of cutting them.

4. a piece of jewelry, especially one that shows great workmanship: »

The crown … is revealed as a gorgeous jewel-encrusted, gold piece of lapidary (New York Times).

–adj.

1. having to do with cutting or engraving precious stones.

2. engraved on stone: »

In lapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath (Samuel Johnson).

3. characteristic of stone inscriptions; brief, precise, and pointed: »

… when Samuel Butler attacked Darwin in a series of pamphlets and periodicals, Huxley quoted Goethe's lapidary phrase, “Every whale has its louse” (New Yorker).

╂[< Late Latin lapidārius working with stone < lapis, -idis stone]