Hyacinthus

Hyăcinthus or -os, i, m., = Huakinthos, a beautiful Spartan youth, son of Œbalus, beloved by Apollo, and accidentally killed by a blow of his quoit; from his blood sprang the flower of the same name, marked with the exclamation AI, Ov. M. 10, 162 sq.; Hyg. Fab. 272; Plin. 21, 11, 38, § 66; Serv. Verg. E. 3, 63.— Plur.: sed gladiator erat;

facit hoc illos Hyacinthos,

i. e. as beautiful as Hyacinthus, Juv. 6, 110.—

B.

Hyăcinthĭa, ōrum, n., the festival in honor of Hyacinthus, in Sparta, Ov. M. 10, 219.—

II.

Hence, hyăcinthus or -os, i, m., the hyacinth, not, however, our hyacinth, but either the blue iris or fleur-delis, Iris Germanica, Linn.; the corn-flag or gladiolus, Gladiolus communis, Linn.; or the rocket larkspur, Delphinium Ajacis, Linn.; Plin. 21, 11, 38, § 66; Verg. E. 3, 63; 6, 53; id. G. 4, 183; id. A. 11, 69; Col. poët. 10,100.—Hence,

B.

Transf., f., a precious stone of the color of a hyacinth (perh. our sapphire or a dark-colored amethyst ), Plin. 37, 9, 41, § 125 sq.; Vulg. Exod. 25, 4; Inscr. Orell. 2510.