As a mineral, consists of carbonate of lime, its texture varying from the highly crystalline to the compact. In Esther 1:6 there are four Hebrew words which are rendered marble:,

(1.) Shesh, "pillars of marble." But this word probably designates dark-blue limestone rather than marble.

(2.) Dar, some regard as Parian marble. It is here rendered "white marble." But nothing is certainly known of it.

(3.) Bahat, "red marble," probably the verd-antique or half-porphyry of Egypt.

(4.) Sohareth, "black marble," probably some spotted variety of marble. "The marble pillars and tesserae of various colours of the palace at Susa came doubtless from Persia itself, where marble of various colours is found, especially in the province of Hamadan Susiana." The marble of Solomon's architectural works may have been limestone from near Jerusalem, or from Lebanon, or possibly white marble from Arabia. Herod employed Parian marble in the temple, and marble columns still exist in great abundance at Jerusalem.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) A massive, compact limestone; a variety of calcite, capable of being polished and used for architectural and ornamental purposes. The color varies from white to black, being sometimes yellow, red, and green, and frequently beautifully veined or clouded. The name is also given to other rocks of like use and appearance, as serpentine or verd antique marble, and less properly to polished porphyry, granite, etc.

2. (n.) A thing made of, or resembling, marble, as a work of art, or record, in marble; or, in the plural, a collection of such works; as, the Arundel or Arundelian marbles; the Elgin marbles.

3. (n.) A little ball of marble, or of some other hard substance, used as a plaything by children; or, in the plural, a child's game played with marbles.

4. (a.) Made of, or resembling, marble; as, a marble mantel; marble paper.

5. (a.) Cold; hard; unfeeling; as, a marble breast or heart.

6. (n.) To stain or vein like marble; to variegate in color; as, to marble the edges of a book, or the surface of paper.