gem

American  

[jem] / dʒɛm /

noun

1. a cut and polished precious stone or pearl fine enough for use in jewelry.

2. something likened to or prized as such a stone because of its beauty or worth.

   His painting was the gem of the collection.

   Synonyms:

   pearl, jewel, prize, treasure

3. a person held in great esteem or affection.

4. muffin.

5. British Printing. a 4-point type of a size between brilliant and diamond.

---

verb (used with object)

gemmed, gemming

1. to adorn with or as with gems; begem.

adjective

1. Jewelry. noting perfection or very high quality.

   gem color; a gem ruby.

gem British  

/ dʒɛm /

noun

1. a precious or semiprecious stone used in jewellery as a decoration; jewel

2. a person or thing held to be a perfect example; treasure

3. a size of printer's type, approximately equal to 4 point

4. a type of small sweet cake

---

verb

1. (tr) to set or ornament with gems

Other Word Forms

• gemless adjective
• gemlike adjective
• gemmy adjective

Etymology

Origin of gem

1275–1325; Middle English gemme < Old French < Latin gemma bud, jewel; replacing Middle English yimme, Old English gim ( m ) < Latin

Example Sentences

He says he began producing the videos because he "wanted to shine a light on some hidden gems in K-pop".

From BBC

I’ve often come across my favorite hidden gems, some of which I’m keeping to myself, while walking around.

From The Wall Street Journal

Alongside his own survey of Mont Blanc published in a monumental chromolithograph is his modest diagram of its underlying crystalline structure, as if it were a faceted gem.

From The Wall Street Journal

At first glance, Danny had thought it was a gem, but up close he saw it was a gold acorn with two green leaves at the stem.

From Literature

Demand for natural diamonds has weakened as younger buyers spend less on traditional jewellery and are drawn to cheaper lab‑grown gems.

From Barron's

Related Words

• hardware
• jewel
• jewelry
• masterpiece
• ornament
• stone