Jade

Jade (jād) , noun

[French, from Sp. jade, from piedra de ijada stone of the side, from ijada flank, side, pain in the side, the stone being so named because it was supposed to cure this pain. Sp. ijada is derived from Latin ilia flanks. Compare Iliac.]

(Mineralogy) A stone, commonly of a pale to dark green color but sometimes whitish. It is very hard and compact, capable of fine polish, and is used for ornamental purposes and for implements, esp. in Eastern countries and among many early peoples.

The general term jade includes nephrite, a compact variety of tremolite with a specific gravity of 3, and also the mineral jadeite, a silicate of alumina and soda, with a specific gravity of 3.3. The latter is the more highly prized and includes the feitsui of the Chinese. The name has also been given to other tough green minerals capable of similar use.

A color resembling that of jade{1}; it varies from yellowish-green to bluish-green.

Jade , noun

[Old English jade; compare Prov. English yaud, Scot. yade, yad, yaud, Icelandic jalda a mare.]

A mean or tired horse; a worthless nag. — Chaucer

Tired as a jade in overloaden cart. — Sir P. Sidney

A disreputable or vicious woman; a wench; a quean; also, sometimes, a worthless man. — Shakespeare

She shines the first of battered jades. — Swift

A young woman; -- generally so called in irony or slight contempt.

A souple jade she was, and strang. — Burns

Jade , transitive verb

To treat like a jade; to spurn. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare

To make ridiculous and contemptible. [Obsolete]

I do now fool myself, to let imagination jade me. — Shakespeare

To exhaust by overdriving or long-continued labor of any kind; to tire, make dull, or wear out by severe or tedious tasks; to harass.

The mind, once jaded by an attempt above its power,... checks at any vigorous undertaking ever after. — Locke

Jade , intransitive verb

To become weary; to lose spirit.

They... fail, and jade, and tire in the prosecution. — South