gem

CEFRB2

/d͡ʒɛm/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A valuable stone used in jewelry.

  2. 02

    noun

    A person or thing considered especially excellent.

Examples

  • At last, the gem was in his hands.

  • It's not as if just anybody can write a literary gem.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
4

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Any precious or highly valued thing or person.

  2. A precious stone, usually of substantial monetary value or prized for its beauty or shine.

  3. A geometrid moth of the species Orthonama obstipata.

More examples

In context

  • She's an absolute gem.

  • a gem of wit

  • c. 1668, John Denham (translator), Of Old Age by Cato the Elder, Part 3, in Poems and Translations, with The Sophy, London: H. Herringman, 4th edition, 1773, p. 35, Then from the Joynts of thy prolifick Stemm A swelling Knot is raised (call’d a Gemm)

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The jeweler set the sparkling blank in a silver ring.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Inherited from Middle English gemme, gimme, yimme, ȝimme, from Old English ġimm, from Proto-West Germanic *gimmu (“gem”) and Old French gemme (“gem”), both from Latin gemma (“a swelling bud; jewel, gem”). Doublet of gemma and Gemma.