jade 1  (j ād)
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n.1. Either of two distinct minerals, nephrite and jadeite, that are generally pale green or white and are used mainly as gemstones or in carving. 2. A carving made of jade. 3. Jade green.
[French (le) jade, (the) jade, alteration of (l')ejade, from Spanish (piedra de) ijada, flank (stone) (from the belief that it cured renal colic), from Vulgar Latin *īliāta, from Latin īlia, pl. of īlium, flank.]
jade adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
jade 2 (j ād)
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n. Archaic 1. A broken-down or useless horse; a nag. 2. A woman regarded as promiscuous. 3. An outgoing, often flirtatious girl.
[Middle English, cart-horse, nag; perhaps akin to Swedish dialectal jälda, mare, possibly of Finno-Ugric origin and akin to Erzya (Finno-Ugric language of Russia) el'd'e and Moksha (Finno-Ugric language of Russia) jäl'd'ä, mare.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
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