emery

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French émeri, also émeril,^[2][3][4][5] from Old French esmeril,^[6][2][7][8] which goes back to Italian smeriglio.^{[6][3][8][7][9]} Etymonline and Barnhart take the Italian word from Vulgar Latin *smyrilium,^[6][3] while the OED and the AHD give Late Latin smericulum,^[2][10] and Dictionary.com explains it as *smēriculum, formed from Byzantine Greek σμῆρι (smēri) and the Latin suffix -culum.^[5] The medieval Greek form continues Ancient Greek σμύρις (smúris, “emery powder”), also σμίρις (smíris), a powder used for rubbing and polishing.^{[2][11][9][12]} The Anglo-Norman esmeril, ground rock used for polishing, is recorded from the second half of the 13th century.^[13] The origin of the Greek word is unclear.^[10][6][12] The AHD thinks it may be akin to Ancient Greek σμῆν (smên, “to wipe, cleanse”) or to a Hebrew word for a very hard stone,^[10] and Klein thought it was probably borrowed from that Hebrew word, which means adamant or emery.^[11] Barnhart derives it from the verb for rubbing, influenced by μύρον (múron, “unguent”),^[3] and Partridge, Hoad and the Shorter Oxford connect it with smear.^[14][8][9] Etymonline calls it probably a non-Greek word, perhaps Semitic,^[6] and Beekes, finding the comparisons with smear unconvincing, thinks the variation between u and i points to a Pre-Greek word.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

A coarse kind of corundum used for polishing metals, stones and glass: 1481–90, in the household books of the Howard family.^[2] Barnhart also dates the word to 1481,^[15][3] and Etymonline to the late 15th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense since the 15th century.^[2][6] Johnson (1755) described emery as an iron ore, dusky brownish red on the surface and spangled with shining specks.^[16] The emery board, a strip coated with emery for filing the nails, is recorded from 1725.^[6] In Ireland a bed of iron ore was called emery, according to a report of 1789 in the Philosophical Transactions.^[2][17] In the United States emery was also short for an emery bag, a small bag of emery powder, from 1864.^[2][4] The verb, to rub, polish or coat with emery, is formed from the noun.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1481 – a coarse corundum used for polishing.^[2][3]
• 1725 – emery board.^[6]
• 1789 – in Ireland, a bed of iron ore (obsolete).^[2][17]
• 1864 – in the United States, an emery bag.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dark, granular kind of corundum mixed with magnetite or hematite, used as an abrasive for grinding and polishing: She sharpened the chisel on a block of emery.^[18][4][2]
2. Used as a modifier: emery paper, emery cloth.^[18][4]
3. (US) An emery bag, a small cloth bag of emery powder.^[2][4]

Verb

1. To rub, smooth or polish with emery.^[4][2]
2. To coat with emery, as in making abrasive paper.^[4][2]

Word family

• emerize
• emery board
• emery cloth

Related words

• smear
• emery paper

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
14. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
15. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
17. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
18. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins