The Latin word for ‘stone.’
1. Used with qualification in several med.L. names of minerals and gems: lapis Armenus, Armenian stone, a blue carbonate of copper; lapis calaminaris, calamine; lapis causticus, caustic potash; lapis divinus, a preparation consisting of copper sulphate, potassium nitrate, alum and camphor; lapis granatus, garnet; lapis hæmatites, hæmatite; lapis hibernicus (see quot.); lapis infernalis, lunar caustic (cf. INFERNAL A 4 a); lapis Lydius, basanite; lapis judaicus = JEWS’ STONE 1; lapis ollaris, potstone, or soapstone.
1641. French, Distill., iii. (1651), 82. Take of *Lapis Armenus … as much as you please.
1796. Kirwan, Elem. Min. (ed. 2), II. 153. Lapis Armenus is Chalk or Gypsum impregnated with the blue Calx of Copper.
1696. Phillips (ed. 5), Cadmia, Brass Oar or Stone out of which Brass is tryed or molten, called by divers *Lapis Calaminaris.
1799. G. Smith, Laboratory, I. 108. Add to it a third part of powdered lapis calaminaris.
1822. Imison, Sci. & Art, II. 228. Brass is made by fusing together lapis calaminaris (which is an ore of zinc) and copper.
1657. Physical Dict., *Lapis Granatus, the Granate stone.
1741. Compl. Fam. Piece, I. i. 76. Take the fine Powder of *Lapis Hæmatites.
1778. Woulfe, in Phil. Trans., LXIX. 25. The Irish slate, *lapis Hybernicus of the druggists.
1741. Compl. Fam.-Piece, I. i. 40. Take of *Lapis Infernalis one Ounce.
[c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 278. ℞, cineris vitris … lapidis spongie, *lapidis iudaici … ana .ʓ. j.]
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., II. v. 92. Bezoar is Antidotall, Lapis Judaicus diureticall.
1772–84. Cook, Voy. (1790), V. 1722. Besides the *lapis lydius, we found a species of cream-coloured whetstone.
1696. Phillips (ed. 5), *Lapis Nephriticus, a Stone of great Efficacy against the Stone in the Kidneys.
1753. Hanway, Trav. (1762), I. VII. xcv. 437. A cup of lapis nephriticus.
1796. Kirwan, Elem. Min. (ed. 2), I. 155. Pot-stone, *Lapis Ollaris.
1865. Lubbock, Preh. Times, xiv. (1869), 482. A … lamp or shallow vessel of lapis ollaris.
2. Short for: a. med.L. lapis philosophicus, philosophers’ stone; b. LAPIS LAZULI.
1666–7. Locke, Lett. to Boyle, 24 Feb., in B.’s Wks. 1772, VI. 537. He and I are now upon a new sort of chemistry, i. e. extracting money out of the scholars pockets; and if we can do that, you need not fear but in time we shall have the lapis.
1811. Pinkerton, Petral., II. 89. At Ekaterinburg in Siberia … I inquired … concerning the nature of the mountains whence the Lapis is brought.
1861. All Year Round, V. 14. Basalt, lapis, syenite.
