View source for Topaz

'''Topaz''', or "topasion", changed its meaning during the [[Middle Ages]]. In [[ancient]] times, the name probably referred to the [[gemstone]] variety of olivine. The name is thought to come from the island of Topazos in the [[Red Sea]] in [[Egypt]]. Following the [[Crusades]], [[lapidary|lapidaries]] began using topaz as the name for ''chryselectrum'' or "golden stone". Olivine was given its modern name of ''peridot''.

[[category:gemstones]]