pinfiren.2adj.2
/ˈpɪnfʌɪə/, U.S. /ˈpɪnˌfaɪ(ə)r/ A. n.2
An opal characterized by closely spaced specks of colour; such opals collectively. Also: the appearance of such an opal.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > opal > [noun] > varieties of
girasol1588
oculus mundi1661
eye of the world1730
hydrophane1784
cacholong1791
pitchstone1794
pyrophane1794
semi-opal1794
fire opal1811
sun opal1818
isopyre1827
alumocalcite1832
jasper-opal1843
opal jasper1848
resin opal1850
pitch opal1861
jasp-opal1868
opal-agate1868
harlequin1873
harlequin opal1887
wax-opal1896
potch1897
pinfire1902
moss opal1904
nobby1919
1902 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Feb. 254/1 Two men found a large piece of ‘pin-fire’, or the best opal.
1908 A. J. Dawson Finn xxxi. 464 Sixty-six solid pounds o' best pin-fire—and us dyin' for want of a crust.
2000 Guardian (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) (Nexis) 6 Mar. 20 They are brilliantly coloured bearing flashes of red, green, yellow, and blue fire, fabulously patterned in harlequin, pinfire, and regularly ordered arrangements of colours.
B. adj.2
Designating such an opal.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > opal > [adjective] > varieties of
white cliffs1890
orange1902
pinfire1902
1902 Chambers's Jrnl. Aug. 494/1 The miners..say, one stroke of the pick may lay bare a seam of ‘pin-fire’ opal or break in two a rich band of ‘orange’.
1964 W. C. Eyles Bk. Opals i. 25 Pin-fire opal is a type in which the main body of the stone is usually white and shows a myriad of small pinlike colors all through the surface and the body of the stone.
1996 J. T. Hospital Oyster (1997) 23 She folds it away for safe keeping in those same dream niches where she stores the pinfire opal.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> see also
also refers to : pin-fireadj.1n.1
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n.2adj.21902see also