Etymograph

English

jade

Jade comes from French le jade, from Spanish piedra de ijada ‘flank stone’, and ultimately from Latin ilia.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEilia‘flank’
  2. Spanishc. 1500–presentpiedra de ijada‘flank stone’by way of Vulgar Latin *iliata
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentle jade
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2012jade

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history not traced here.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEilia‘flank’
  2. Spanishc. 1500–presentpiedra de ijada‘flank stone’by way of Vulgar Latin *iliata
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentle jade
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2012jade

Earliest quotation: 2012, Lee A. Groat, Gemstones: “Although there are dozens of different types of gems,…”

Every English word from Latin ilia

Another origin of jade

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500jade
  2. Englishtodaysame form

From Middle English jade, chade, either a variant of yaud or merely influenced by it. Yaud derives from Old Norse jalda (‘mare’), from a Uralic language, such as Moksha эльде (elde) or Erzya эльде (elde).

Today it means

noun A semiprecious stone, either nephrite or jadeite, generally green or white in color, often used for carving figurines.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin ilia / jade

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