GARNET

noun Etymology: Middle English gernet, from Anglo-French gernete, from gernet dark red, from pume gernete pomegranate Date: 14th century a brittle and more or less transparent usually red silicate mineral that has a vitreous luster, occurs mainly in crystals but also in massive form and in grains, is found commonly in gneiss and mica schist, and is used as a semiprecious stone and as an abrasive, a variable color averaging a dark red, ~iferous adjective