Amethyst. One of the precious stones in the high priest's sacred breast-plate. Exodus 28:19; Exodus 39:12. The oriental amethyst is a gem of great hardness and lustre, violet, and occasionally red; the occidental amethyst is a variety of quartz, of much beauty, but not difficult to cut. This stone had its Hebrew name,ahlâmah, from its supposed property of inducing dreams. Its Greek name, from which the English word comes, implied that it was a charm against drunkenness. The amethyst is mentioned as one of the foundations of the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21:20.