X
Well attestedNamed for a product of the place

Bisbee blue

noun · first attested 20th century

The most prized American turquoise was a nuisance byproduct of copper mining.

A deep blue turquoise shot through with reddish-brown matrix, mined at Bisbee in southern Arizona.

Bisbee·United States

31.4481°N -109.9283°W · Q79720

Open on the atlas

Record

Relationship
Named for a product of the place
Confidence
Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
Attested
20th century
Part of speech
noun

Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.

How it traveled
  1. Step 1

    Bisbee

  2. In English

    Bisbee blue

The entry

Miners working the Lavender Pit for copper cut through turquoise seams, and the stone reportedly left the site in lunch pails before the company sold it deliberately. The pit stopped producing in the 1970s, so genuine Bisbee blue now comes only from old stock.

United States

152 more words from United States

All 153 entries
Nearest pins