Hyacinthus or -os, i, m., = Ὑάκινθος, a beautiful Spartan youth, son of Oebalus, 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.

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

— Hence, hyacinthus 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. poet. 10,100.

—Hence, 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.