Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Either of two distinct minerals, nephrite and jadeite, that are generally pale green or white and are used mainly as gemstones or in carving.
  • noun A carving made of jade.
  • noun Jade green.
  • noun A broken-down or useless horse; a nag.
  • noun A woman regarded as promiscuous.
  • noun An outgoing, often flirtatious girl.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A tough compact stone, varying from nearly white to pale or dark green in color, much used in prehistoric times for weapons and utensils, and highly prized, especially in the East, for ornamental Carvings.
  • noun A mare, especially an old mare; any old or worn-out horse; a mean or sorry nag.
  • noun Hence A mean or worthless person, originally applied to either sex, but now only to a woman; a wench; a hussy; a quean: used opprobriously.
  • noun A young woman: used in irony or playfully.
  • To make a fool of; scorn.
  • To treat as a jade; kick or spurn.
  • To reduce to the condition of a jade; tire out; ride or drive without sparing; overdrive: as, to jade a horse.
  • To weary or fatigue, in general.
  • Synonyms and Weary, Fatigue, etc. See tire, transitive verb
  • To become weary; fail; give out.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To become weary; to lose spirit.
  • noun (Min.) A stone, commonly of a pale to dark green color but sometimes whitish. It is very hard and compact, capable of fine polish, and is used for ornamental purposes and for implements, esp. in Eastern countries and among many early peoples.
  • noun A color resembling that of jade{1}; it varies from yellowish-green to bluish-green.
  • noun A mean or tired horse; a worthless nag.
  • noun A disreputable or vicious woman; a wench; a quean; also, sometimes, a worthless man.
  • noun A young woman; -- generally so called in irony or slight contempt.
  • transitive verb obsolete To treat like a jade; to spurn.
  • transitive verb obsolete To make ridiculous and contemptible.
  • transitive verb To exhaust by overdriving or long-continued labor of any kind; to tire, make dull, or wear out by severe or tedious tasks; to harass.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable A semiprecious stone either nephrite or jadeite, generally green or white in color, often used for carving figurines.
  • noun A grayish shade of green, typical of jade stones.
  • adjective Of a grayish shade of green, typical of jade stones.
  • noun A horse too old to be put to work.
  • noun A woman, especially in contempt.
  • verb To tire, weary or fatigue

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a light green color varying from bluish green to yellowish green
  • verb lose interest or become bored with something or somebody
  • adjective of something having the color of jade; especially varying from bluish green to yellowish green
  • verb exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress
  • noun a woman adulterer
  • noun an old or over-worked horse
  • noun a semiprecious gemstone that takes a high polish; is usually green but sometimes whitish; consists of jadeite or nephrite

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French (le) jade, (the) jade, alteration of (l')ejade, from Spanish (piedra de) ijada, flank (stone) (from the belief that it cured renal colic), from Vulgar Latin *īliāta, from Latin īlia, pl. of īlium, flank.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, cart-horse, nag; perhaps akin to Swedish dialectal jälda, mare, possibly of Finno-Ugric origin and akin to Erzya (Finno-Ugric language of Russia) el’d’e and Moksha (Finno-Ugric language of Russia) jäl’d’ä, mare.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French le jade, error for earlier l'ejade ("jade"), from Spanish piedra de ijada ("flank stone"), from Latin ilia ("flank") (Jade was thought to cure pains in the side.).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, perhaps from Old Norse jalda ("mare").

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Examples

  • Many might suppose jade to be a natural kind of mineral, but it is not because there are two distinct minerals called ˜jade™.

    Natural Kinds Bird, Alexander 2008

  • In addition to its employment in actual comparison, the word "jade" is very often used in a figurative sense to denote anything especially desirable.

    Fir-Flower Tablets: Poems Translated From the Chinese 1921

  • Nov 20: "Lair of the Dragon: Ancient Chinese Jades and Bronzes" 100 pieces in jade and bronze showing the Liangzhu culture and its impact on future art.

    A sampling from area museum exhibits Post 2010

  • The original, which was made of jade, is found in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Other charming replicas spread along the walkways include the chaneques and yolbatanes, or playful elves, in which the local indigenous community still believes.

    Veracruz, Mexico: a feast for the senses 2006

  • The original, which was made of jade, is found in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Other charming replicas spread along the walkways include the chaneques and yolbatanes, or playful elves, in which the local indigenous community still believes.

    Veracruz, Mexico: a feast for the senses 2006

  • The original, which was made of jade, is found in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Other charming replicas spread along the walkways include the chaneques and yolbatanes, or playful elves, in which the local indigenous community still believes.

    Veracruz, Mexico: a feast for the senses 2006

  • Chinese chicken dishes are often named for the phoenix of mythology, and of course, jade is in honor of the brilliant color of the stir-fried melon.

    Tigers & Strawberries » Eating Bitter, Part Two: The Bitter Melon and Me 2005

  • Jade Nephrite, the stone commonly known as jade, has been prized in China since the Neolithic era.

    The China Factor Kelly Crow 2011

  • Mr. WEI CHUNG (ph): We are Chinese, so we are very interested in Chinese jade.

    Flying Through San Francisco? Stop To Enjoy The Art 2010

  • Last year we saw a delicate purple and aqua flower, called a jade plant I believe, that was one of the prettiest things I've ever seen.

    Archive 2007-03-01 Susan Palwick 2007

  • In my personal life, I have gotten better at not “JADE”-ing (Justify, Argue, Defend, Explain), but this doesn’t seem appropriate in the workplace.

    Ask a Manager Ask a Manager 2023

Comments

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  • Also a loose woman.

    December 20, 2007

  • Cursed, cursed toad, devil, jade, passed from each mouth...

    Lovelace to Belford, Clarissa by Samuel Richardson

    December 20, 2007