Etymology and meaning of the word “tourmaline”
The word “tourmaline” comes from the Sinhala thoramali or thuramali. Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language, is the official language of Sri Lanka (called Ceylon until 1972) and the exact meaning of these words remains difficult to discern. According to some, they refer to carnelian, “colored stones” or, quite simply, different stones from Sri Lanka.
The...