jewelry
Americannoun
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articles of gold, silver, precious stones, etc., for personal adornment.
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any ornaments for personal adornment, as necklaces or cuff links, including those of base metals, glass, plastic, or the like.
Etymology
Origin of jewelry
1300–50; Middle English juelrie < Anglo-French juelerie, equivalent to juel jewel + -erie -ery
Explanation
Jewelry refers to an adornment (generally precious metal or stone) worn by a person, like a bracelet, ring, necklace, or earrings. Jewelry may be purely decorative, or it may express something — like a ring that says you are married. Humans have been in the jewelry business for a long time: A shell bracelet, or necklace was found in a cave in South Africa that dates back 75,000 years. Both a diamond ring from Tiffany’s and a handmade beaded bracelet are jewelry, but whether the jewel in jewelry is real or imitation, it is always spelled out. More than one piece of jewelry is still the same word.
Vocabulary lists containing jewelry
Commonly Misspelled Words, List 1
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In A Sedimental Mood: Rock and Gem Vocabulary
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List 8
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The core jewelry business, home to brands like Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, recorded a 24% jump in sales to 4.73 billion euros, ahead of consensus expectations of 4.35 billion euros.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
However, the same property that makes gold highly resistant to oxygen, making it ideal for jewelry and electronics, also reduces its effectiveness for some chemical manufacturing and energy related reactions.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
This newly identified behavior helps explain why gold jewelry, coins, and other objects can retain their luster for centuries.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
"This is the designer's first couture wedding dress for a world-renowned celebrity," Paine said in a statement, adding that their shoes were custom made by Christian Louboutin and the bride wore Cartier jewelry.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
As if I wasn’t right here in this jewelry case, just out of earshot.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
