Definitions and meaning of gem
From Middle English gemme, from Old English gim, gimm (“gem”) and Old French gemme (“gem”); both from Latin gemma (“a swelling bud; a jewel; gem”).
- enPR: jĕm, IPA(key): /d͡ʒɛm/
- (pin–pen merger) IPA(key): /d͡ʒɪm/
- Rhymes: -ɛm
gem (plural gems)
- A precious stone, usually of substantial monetary value or prized for its beauty or shine.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, London: William Ponsonbie, Book 1, Canto 10, p. 144,
- And on her head she wore a tyre of gold,
- Adornd with gemmes and owches wondrous fayre,
- Whose passing price vneath was to be told;
- c. 1602, William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well, Act V, Scene 3,
- Of six preceding ancestors, that gem,
- Conferr’d by testament to the sequent issue,
- Hath it been owed and worn. This is his wife;
- That ring’s a thousand proofs.
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 4, lines 647-649,
- […] then silent Night
- With this her solemn Bird and this fair Moon,
- And these the Gemms of Heav’n, her starrie train:
- (figuratively) Any precious or highly valued thing or person.
- She's an absolute gem.
- Anything of small size, or expressed within brief limits, which is regarded as a gem on account of its beauty or value, such as a small picture, a verse of poetry, or an epigram.
- a gem of wit
- (obsolete) A gemma or leaf-bud.
- c. 1668, John Denham (translator), Of Old Age by Cato the Elder, Part 3, in Poems and Translations, with The Sophy, London: H. Herringman, 4th edition, 1773, p. 35,
- Then from the Joynts of thy prolifick Stemm
- A swelling Knot is raised (call’d a Gemm)
- 1803, John Browne Cutting, “A Succinct History of Jamaica” in Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, p. xcii,
- In about twelve days the sprouts from the gems of the planted cane are seen […]
- A type of geometrid moth, Orthonama obstipata.
- (computing) A package containing programs or libraries for the Ruby programming language.
- (uncountable, printing, uncommon, obsolete) A size of type between brilliant (4-point) and diamond (4½-point), running 222 lines to the foot.
- (precious stone): gemstone, jewel, precious stone; see also Thesaurus:gemstone
- Gem County
- Gem State
gem (third-person singular simple present gems, present participle gemming, simple past and past participle gemmed)
- (transitive) To adorn with, or as if with, gems.
- Wikipedia article on Gemstones
- EGM, EMG, MEG, Meg, meg, meg-
From Middle High German geben, from Old High German geban, from Proto-Germanic *gebaną. Cognate with German geben, Dutch geven, obsolete English yive, Icelandic gefa.
- (Luserna) to give
- “gem” in Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien
- imperative of gemme
From English jam.
gem n (plural gemuri)
- jam (sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar)
- first-person singular present indicative of geme
- first-person singular present subjunctive of geme
- third-person plural present indicative of geme
- a paper clip
- (tennis) a game; part of a set
- gem in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- gem in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
Perhaps borrowed from French germain.
gem (nominative plural gems)
- 1949, "Lifajenäd brefik cifala: ‚Jakob Sprenger‛", in Volapükagased pro Nedänapükans, issue 4, 13-14.
- ‚Jakob‛ äbinom cil mälid se gems vel: blods lul e sörs tel.
- Jakob was the sixth child out of seven siblings: five brothers and two sisters.
- blod (“brother”)
- higem (“brother”)
- jiblod (“sister”)
- jigem (“sister”)
- sör (“sister”)
- (collective) gemef (“brother(s) and/or sister(s)”)
- (adjective) gemik (“sibling”)
- to adorn with gems.
(source: Collins Scrabble Dictionary)