turquoise

Where does the word "turquoise" come from? It comes from Old French turquois, and was adopted directly into English (1500s).

Turquoise’s story begins in Old French: turquois meant “Turkish, relating to Turkey.” Literally Turkish, since the blue-green stone reached Europe through Turkish traders. It reached English by 1500s as turquoise. Settled as the English word for the blue-green stone and its color. Today, turquoise means a blue-green semiprecious stone, or the color resembling it.

1. Stage 1 · Old French · medieval turquois "Turkish, relating to Turkey", literally Turkish, since the blue-green stone reached Europe through Turkish traders.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1500s turquoise "a blue-green semiprecious stone", settled as the English word for the blue-green stone and its color.