jade

Forms

jade m (plural jades)^[1]

Etymology

It is a misdivision of l'éjade, the earlier feminine éjade, whose initial vowel was taken for part of the article.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The feminine is borrowed from Spanish ijada (“flank”), from the phrase piedra de la ijada (“stone of the flank”), recorded in Spanish from 1569.^[2][3][6] The Spanish conquerors gave the stone this name because the Indians believed it protected against colic of the kidneys.^[2][4][3]

The Spanish word goes back, through an unrecorded simple form, to Latin īlia (“flanks, belly”).^[3][4][7] Etymonline and Wiktionary give the intermediate form as Vulgar Latin *īliāta.^[8][1] Compare German Nierenstein (“kidney stone”), used in German beside the borrowed name of the stone.^[3][4] Littré still called the origin unknown.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The masculine is recorded in 1612 in a play of the Ancien Théâtre français, already for an object made of the stone.^[5][4] The feminine éjade is found only in 1633, in a letter of Voiture to Mlle Paulet, and the TLFi's first masculine record is jadde in Mazarin's inventory of 1661.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

From its first records the word named both the stone and, by metonymy, an object carved from it.^[4] It is also a colour name, especially in the literary phrase de jade (early 20th century), as in vert jade.^[4][2] The mineralogical term jadéite (1873) names one variety of jade; another is called néphrite, which keeps the old belief in its power over the kidneys.^[4]

English jade (1721) was taken from le jade, after an earlier iada (1590s) from Spanish.^[8]

Timeline

• 1569 – Spanish piedra de la ijada is recorded.^[2]
• 1612 – First French record, of an object made of jade.^[5][3][6]
• 1633 – The feminine éjade in a letter of Voiture.^[2]
• 1661 – Jadde for the stone, in Mazarin's inventory.^[2][5]
• 1721 – English jade is borrowed from le jade.^[8]
• 1873 – The derivative jadéite.^[4]
• early 20th century – De jade as a colour.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (mineralogy) Jade, a very hard, tough stone, green to whitish and more or less translucent, whose varieties are jadéite and néphrite.^[2][10][5]
2. The stone as used for jewellery and works of art, as in Un bracelet de jade.^[2][10]
3. An object made of jade, as in Une vitrine de jades anciens.^[2][10]

Adjective

1. (literary, invariable) Of the colour of jade, also de jade, as in vert jade.^[2][4]

Word family

• jadéite

Related words

• néphrite
• iliaque
• Spanish ijada
• Latin īlia
• English jade

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 545b
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert