Gem

How to spell gem

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce gem

What does gem mean?

1. nounA precious or semiprecious stone, especially one cut and polished for jewellery.
2. nounA person or thing that is outstanding or highly valued.

Gem in a sentence

• The ring held a single blue gem set in gold.

• That little bakery on the corner is a real gem.

• The jeweller examined each gem under a bright lamp.

• The new assistant turned out to be an absolute gem in the office.

Where does gem come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin gemma, which originally meant a bud or the swelling shoot of a plant before it opened, and only later came to mean a precious stone or jewel; the link was the idea of something small, rounded, and shining. Roman writers used gemma for both the bud on a vine and the polished jewel, and over time the glittering sense won out. The word entered Old English directly from Latin as 'gim', and was later reshaped by the Old French form 'gemme' after the Norman Conquest, giving the modern spelling. The plant sense survives in botany, where a 'gemma' is still a small bud used in reproduction, a neat reminder of where the jewel got its name. From the glittering stone the word easily extended to mean any treasured or excellent thing, so a person or a small town can be called a gem.

How the word is built

• gem (from Latin gemma: bud, precious stone)