/ˈd͡ʒuːəl/, /ˈd͡ʒuːl/, /ˈd͡ʒʊəl/
OriginFrom Middle English juel, jewel, juwel, jeuel, jowel, from Anglo-Norman juel, from Old French jouel, joel, joïel, hence French joyau, of uncertain origin. Perhaps based ultimately on Latin gaudium (“joy”), or on Latin iocus (“joke; jest”), or according to Pihan, from Arabic جَوْهَر (jawhar). Compare Medieval Latin jocale.
- A precious or semi-precious stone; gem, gemstone.
- A valuable object used for personal ornamentation, especially one made of precious metals and stones; a piece of jewellery.
“Iachimo: 'Tis plate of rare device, and jewels / Of rich and exquisite form, their values great.”
- figurativelyAnything precious or valuable.
“Galveston was the jewel of Texas prior to the hurricane.”
“Wel, wel (Meander) thou art deepely read:
And hauing thee, I haue a iewell ſure:
Go on my Lord, and giue your charge I ſay,
Thy wit wil make vs Conquerors to day.”
“Had our prince,—
Jewel of children,—seen this hour, he had pair'd
Well with this lord: there was not full a month
Between their births.”
- A bearing for a pivot in a watch, formed of a crystal or precious stone.
- Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the genus Hypochrysops.
- slangThe clitoris.
“The area between her eyebrows wrinkled with the increasing circular motions her two fingers made on her jewel.”
- To bejewel; to decorate or bedeck with jewels or gems.
- A female given name from English from the noun jewel, used since the end of the 19th century.
“Jewel he called her; and he would say this as he might have said ‘Jane,’ don’t you know, with a marital, homelike, peaceful effect. I heard the name for the first time ten minutes after I had landed i”
“"Of course Gladys and Eleanor, having graced the last generation of heroines and being at present in their social prime, will be passed on to the next generation of shopgirls——" / "Displacing Ella and”
- A male given name from English, a variant of Jewell, or from "jewel" like the female name.
Formsjewels(plural) · jewels(present, singular, third-person) · jeweling(US, participle, present) · jewelling(UK, participle, present) · jeweled(US, participle, past) · jeweled(US, past) · jewelled(UK, participle, past) · jewelled(UK, past) · Jewels(plural)