# jade

Pronunciation: US say "JAYD" /d͡ʒeɪd/; UK

## Noun

1. A semiprecious stone (either nephrite or jadeite) usually green or white, often carved into figurines.
   - Simple: A hard green or white stone used to carve small statues and jewelry.
   - _Artisans prize jade for its toughness, shaping it slowly with abrasives._
   - _The pendant was carved from a single block of pale green jade._
3. A bright, slightly bluish or grayish green, like the color of polished jade stones.
   - Simple: A bright green color with a little blue or gray in it.
   - _The designer matched the curtains to a deep jade found in the rug._
   - _Sunlight made the lake shimmer in shades of jade._
5. A succulent houseplant, Crassula ovata, with thick oval leaves and a treelike form.
   - Simple: A small houseplant with thick leaves that needs very little water.
   - _A well-tended jade can live for decades, slowly thickening into a small tree._
   - _He propagated his jade from a single fallen leaf._

## Adjective

2. Of a grayish green color, resembling the shade of polished jade stones.
   - Simple: Having a grayish-green color, like jade stone.
   - _The vase had a lovely jade tint under the gallery lights._
   - _Over the years the copper roof had weathered to a soft jade green._

## Verb

4. To make someone or something tired, worn out, or weary.
   - Simple: To make a person or animal very tired.
   - _Constant travel can jade even seasoned performers._
   - _Years of overwork had jaded the once-eager young doctor._

## Verb

6. To treat someone or something with scorn, as one would a broken-down horse; to spurn. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To treat someone badly or push them away.
7. To make a person or thing seem laughable and contemptible. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To make a person look foolish and not worth respect.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A contemptuous term for a bad-tempered or disreputable woman.
- (noun) A worn-out, overworked, or inferior horse; a sorry, broken-down nag.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5** — People once thought jade could heal pain in the side, so in Spanish it was called piedra de ijada ("flank stone"). Ijada goes back through Vulgar Latin to Latin ilia ("flank"). French made this l'éjade, later rebracketed as le jade, and English borrowed the French word.
**Meanings 4, 6–7** — From Middle English 'jade' or 'chade', either a variant of 'yaud' or influenced by it. 'Yaud' derives from Old Norse 'jalda' ('mare'), which itself came from a Uralic language.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/jade (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).