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jade 1 (jād)
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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 (jād)
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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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