precious

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpreʃ.əs/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English preciouse, precious, borrowed from Old French precios (“precious, costly, honourable”) (modern French précieux),^[2][3][4] from Latin pretiōsus (“costly, valuable”),^[2][3][5] from pretium (“value, worth, price”) (see price).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of great worth or price, costly: about 1250 in Barnhart, the mid-13th century in Etymonline and before 1300 in the OED.^[3][2][6] Of great moral or spiritual worth is also from before 1300.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Over-refined or fastidious is from the late 14th century, in Chaucer about 1395;^[2][3][6] Hoad notes that the modern use of this sense dates from the 18th century.^[4] As an intensive of something bad, “out-and-out, arrant”, it is from about 1430, 1449 in Lydgate in Barnhart.^[6][3] From the 16th through the 18th century it also had an ironic sense, “worthless”,^[2][6] still heard in you and your precious ideas.^[7] Precious metals, gold and silver, are from 1776.^[2] The noun, a beloved person or thing, is from 1706,^[2] and since the Lord of the Rings films it often echoes Tolkien.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – valuable.^[3]
• c. 1395 – over-refined, in Chaucer.^[3]
• c. 1430 – arrant, out-and-out.^[6]
• 16th century – ironically, worthless.^[2]
• 1706 – a beloved person.^[2]
• 1776 – precious metals.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of great value; costly: precious stones.
2. Greatly loved or valued; cherished.
3. Affectedly refined or fastidious, as in speech or manners.
4. (informal) Used ironically or as an intensive: a precious fool.

Adverb

1. (informal) Very: precious little.

Noun

1. A darling or beloved person.

Word family

• preciously
• preciousness
• unprecious
• nonprecious
• semiprecious
• precious metal
• precious stone

Related words

• appraise
• appreciate
• depreciate
• praise
• preciosity
• price
• prize

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins