Jade Meaning
/d͡ʒeɪd/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA semiprecious stone, either nephrite or jadeite, generally green or white in color, often used for carving figurines.
nounA bright shade of slightly bluish or greyish green, typical of polished jade stones.
Sentence Examples
Jade, take a small gun.
Jade Rabbit has landed in the Bay of Rainbows.
CEFR Practice Quiz
At the jewelry store, she admired a ring with a shiny green ____ gem that was very expensive.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She wore a beautiful necklace made of green ____, which was a gift from her grandmother.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from French le jade, rebracketing of earlier l'éjade (“jade”), from Spanish piedra de ijada (“flank stone”), via Vulgar Latin *iliata from Latin ilia (“flank”). (Jade was thought to cure pains in the side.)
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are diamond, ruby and sapphire, emerald and other gem forms of the mineral beryl, chrysoberyl, tanzanite, tsavorite, topaz and jade."
— 2012 March 26, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2012, page 128:
"Shee hath more qualities then a Water-Spaniell, […] Shee can fetch and carry: why a horſe can doe no more; nay, a horſe cannot fetch, but onely carry, therefore is ſhee better then a Iade."
— c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 30, column 2:
"That Iade hath eate bread from my Royall hand. / This hand hath made him proud with clapping him."
— 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
"[F]requent jot / Of his hard ſetting jade did ſo confound / The vvords that he by papyr-ſtealth had got, / That their loſt ſenſe the youngſter could not ſound, / Though he vvith mimical attention did abound."
— 1640 (date written), H[enry] M[ore], “ΨΥΧΟΖΩΙΑ [Psychozōia], or A Christiano-platonicall Display of Life, […]”, in ΨΥΧΩΔΙΑ [Psychōdia] Platonica: Or A Platonicall Song of the Soul, […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel, printer to the Universitie, published 1642, →OCLC, book 2, stanza 47, page 26:
"Let that be as it may, as my purpoſe is to do exact juſtice to every creature brought upon the ſtage of this dramatic work,—I could not ſtifle this diſtinction in favour of Don Quixote’s horſe;—in all other points the parſon’s horſe, I ſay, was juſt ſuch another,—for he was as lean, and as lank, and as ſorry a jade, as Humility herſelf could have beſtrided."
— 1759, [Laurence Sterne], chapter X, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 2nd (1st London) edition, volume I, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 36:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
At the jewelry store, she admired a ring with a shiny green ____ gem that was very expensive.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She wore a beautiful necklace made of green ____, which was a gift from her grandmother.