Wikipedia: Ruby

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The Ruby derives its Name from the Latin Rubeus, reddish.

Rubies in folklore:

The Ruby is associated with Leo, Aquarius, Capricorn, Cancer, and Aries, but it is also said to be unlucky for Aries and Libra. It is one of the most precious of all Jewels, with the exception of the Diamond. The Ruby has a very clear Brilliance, and is somewhat similar in Composition to the Sapphire?.

It is an Emblem of Passion, Affection, Power, Majesty, Vitality, Life and Happiness. It is said to be found in the Head of a Dragon. It is most fortunate when worn on the left Hand or the left Side of the Body. The Ruby is a Stone that helps to create and to maintain Friendship and to banish Grief, confer perpetual Safety, aid Friendship, and focus Occult Energy. It has the Qualities of Power, Loyalty and Courage, and is a Charm against Evil Forces. It attracts and retains material Love, removes Obstacles, gives Victory, and reveals the hidden Places of stolen Treasure. The Ruby is a Talisman against Plagues, Poison, Sorrow, and Evil Spirits. It protects from Attacks by Enemies, brings good Fortune, and attracts Friends. By losing its Brilliance, it warns of the Presence of Poison and Danger. It brings Solace from Grief, drives away Evil Thoughts, prevents Theft, settles Quarrels, preserves Strength and Health, protects against Plague and Fevers, gets rid of Evil Spirits, prevents Nightmares, and stops Bleeding.

To dream of Rubies indicates to the Businessman rich Patronage and Success in Trade, to the Farmer a successful Harvest and to the professional Man Elevation or Fame and Success in different Degrees.

A Ruby is a red variety of the gemstone corundum, the color caused mainly by chromium. Rubies are the birthstone for people born in the month of July. They are mined in Africa, Asia and Australia. They are most often found in Burma, Sri Lanka and Thailand, though they have also been found in Montana and South Carolina; rubies are exceptionally rare, though artificial ones can be produced. "Ruby" lasers operate with a corundum lasing medium.

Rubies are valued according to several characteristics including size, colour, clarity and cut. All natural rubies have imperfections in them. On the other hand, artificial rubies have no imperfections. The fewer the number and the less obvious the imperfections, the more valuable the ruby is - unless there are no imperfections (i.e. a "perfect" ruby) - then it is suspected of being artificially made and is therefore no longer a priceless gem.

Rubies have a hardness of 9 on the Mohs hardness scale, and are only surpassed by diamonds for hardness.

Ruby is also a programming language. See Ruby programming language.

Ruby characters are sometimes used in the typography of ideographic languages, especially Japanese. They are small characters placed above or to the side of an ideogram (kanji? in the case of Japanese) that the reader may not recognize, providing its phonetic equivalent. Ruby annotations are used frequently in instructional books and books for children. Ruby characters are also known as furigana outside of publishing circles.