English
gem
Gem comes from Latin gemma ‘a swelling bud’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgemma‘a swelling bud’next step skipped: Old English ġimm
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gemme
- Englishearliest quotation 1590gem
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgemma‘a swelling bud’next step skipped: Old English ġimm
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gemme
- Englishearliest quotation 1590gem
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto X: “And on her head she wore a tyre of…”
Linked words
through Latin gemma ‘a swelling bud’
Today it means
noun A precious stone, usually of substantial monetary value or prized for its beauty or shine.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin gemma / gem