jade
pronunciation
How to pronounce jade in British English:
UK [dʒeɪd]
How to pronounce jade in American English:
US [dʒed]
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- Noun:
- a semiprecious gemstone that takes a high polish; is usually green but sometimes whitish; consists of jadeite or nephrite
- a woman adulterer
- a light green color varying from bluish green to yellowish green
- an old or over-worked horse
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- Verb:
- get tired of something or somebody
- exhaust or tire through overuse or great strain or stress
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- Adjective:
- similar to the color of jade; especially varying from bluish green to yellowish green
Word Origin
- jade
- jade: English has two words jade, of which by far the commoner nowadays is the name of the green stone [18]. Despite the mineral’s close association with China and Japan, the term has no Oriental connections. It is of Latin origin, and started life in fact as a description of the stone’s medical applications. Latin īlia denoted the ‘sides of the lower torso’, the ‘flanks’, the part of the body where the kidneys are situated (English gets iliac [16] from it).In Vulgar Latin this became *iliata, which passed into Spanish as ijada. Now it was thought in former times that jade could cure pain in the renal area, so the Spanish called it piedra de ijada, literally ‘stone of the flanks’. In due course this was reduced to simply ijada, which passed into English via French. (Jade’s alternative name, nephrite [18], is based on the same idea; it comes from Greek nephrós ‘kidney’.) English’s other word jade [14] now survives really only in its derivative adjective jaded ‘tired, sated’ [16].It originally meant ‘worn-out horse’, and was later transferred metaphorically to ‘disreputable woman’. Its origins are not known.=> iliac; jaded
- jade (n.1)
- ornamental stone, 1721, earlier iada (1590s), from French le jade, error for earlier l'ejade, from Spanish piedra de (la) ijada (1560s), "stone of colic, pain in the side" (jade was thought to cure this), from Vulgar Latin *iliata, from Latin ilia (plural) "flanks, kidney area" (see ileum).
- jade (n.2)
- "worn-out horse," late 14c., "cart horse," of uncertain origin. Barnhart suggests a variant of yaid, yald "whore," literally "mare," from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse jalda "mare," from Finno-Ugric (compare Mordvin al'd'a "mare"). But OED finds the assumption of a Scandinavian connection "without reason." As a term of abuse for a woman, it dates from 1550s.
- jade (v.)
- "to weary, tire out, make dull," c. 1600, from jade (n.2). Related: Jaded; jading.
Example
- 1. Why do you have my mother 's jade pendant feather fan ?
- 2. Todd hilbrecht , jade 's marketing director , expects the airline to become profitable in 2008 .
- 3. The pass marks the border with china and from here I began the steep descent along jade , snow-fed rivers towards kashgar .
- 4. Bustling , small streets are crammed with shops that sell everything from jade ashtrays to mao watches , while enticing smells waft out from restaurants and side-street barbecues .
- 5. One of the kachin constituencies is close to the country 's largest jade mine , the proceeds of which go mostly to generals and their cronies .