chatoyantadj.n.
/ʃatwʌɪˈjɒ̃//ʃəˈtɔɪənt/ rare.
A. adj.
Having a changeable, undulating, or floating lustre, like that of a cat's eye in the dark.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > variegation > iridescence > [adjective]
changeablec1450
cangeant1608
volant1616
changeanta1653
changing1659
pavonine1688
versicoloured1721
perlaceous1777
iridescent1794
pavonated1798
chatoyant1816
nacreous1819
shot1824
versicolorate1826
nacrous1836
versicolorous1847
iridine1851
perlarious1858
nacry1859
nacrine1862
playing1871
fire-opalescent1873
irisated1887
holographic1988
the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective] > liable to be changed > in appearance
various1656
chatoyant1816
1816 P. Cleaveland Elem. Treat. Mineral. & Geol. 257 This mineral has a crystalline structure..It is slightly chatoyant...When cut, it sometimes exhibits a play of colors, like the cat's eye.
1859 J. E. Tennent Ceylon I. i. i. 38 The ‘Moon-stone’, a variety of pearly adularia presenting chatoyant rays when simply polished.
1860 O. W. Holmes Elsie Venner (1887) 79 The..chatoyant..sea of..silks and satins.
1962 Listener 4 Jan. 29/1 Repetition silts them Maturing in a silence Chatoyant and productive.
B. n.
1. Chatoyant quality or lustre. [So in French.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > variegation > iridescence > [noun]
waving1662
chatoyant1798
iridescence1804
pavonine1805
chatoyement1816
reflet1849
nacreness1862
iridization1884
nacreosity1931
1798 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 88 414 The chatoyant or play of light, on these dark crystals, is very remarkable.
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2. A chatoyant stone, as the Cat's eye, the surface and interior of which, when cut and polished, exhibit a floating lustre.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1798