jade

Meanings

Noun

• A semiprecious stone, either nephrite or jadeite, generally green or white in color, often used for carving figurines.
• A bright shade of slightly bluish or greyish green, typical of polished jade stones.
• A succulent plant, Crassula ovata (species).
• A horse too old to be put to work.
• A bad-tempered or disreputable woman.

Adjective

• Of a grayish shade of green, typical of jade stones.

Verb

• To fatigue, tire, or weary (someone or something).
• To treat (someone or something) like a jade; to spurn.
• To make (someone or something) contemptible and ridiculous.

Origin

• Borrowed from French le jade, rebracketing of earlier ejade, from Spanish piedra de ijada, via Vulgar Latin *iliata from Latin ilia. (Jade was thought to cure pains in the side.)
• From Middle English, either a variant of yaud or merely influenced by it. yaud derives from Old Norse jalda ("mare"), from a language, such as Moksha эльде or Erzya эльде. See yaud for more.