AboutCarol Pozefsky Expertise Etymology: The origins of English words and phrases.
Anchor/Reporter NBC and CBS Networks. News Director 3 Regional Radio Stations.
Question Hello, Carol
Do you know an origin of these words: Jewelry, jewels, jems, gold and precious thing/stones-any thing in jewelry industry. I am trying to
figure out if any English words in jewelry industry has any latin roods or what kind of origin behind them. I want to come up with a new name for my store that has an ancient word or base on an ancient word.
Thank you very much for your help.
P.S. If it is outside of yor expertise, may be you know who might help me out with this. Thank you, again for your time.
Answer Hello and welcome to the weekend,
The word jewel stems from the Medieval Latin word 'jocus' meaning pastime or sport. Our word 'joke' comes from the same root. The earliest mention in English appears in Kyng Alisaunder and the spelling was 'juel'. It meant precious stone or valuable object or treasure.
The English word 'gemme' meaning precious stone or precious thing appears in 1300. It was borrowed from the Old French 'gemme' and that in turn comes from the Latin 'gemma' meaning precious stone or jewel.
The word gold is a relative of the Old English word 'geolu' meaning yellow. It also stems from the Indo-European root 'ghel' also meaning yellow.
The best to you always, Carol P.
