Standard Lemma guide

gemstone

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈd͡ʒɛmˌstoʊn/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛmstoʊn
  • CMU ARPABET: JH EH1 M S T OW2 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A gem, usually made of minerals.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a crystalline rock that can be cut and polished for jewelry

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he had the gem set in a ring for his wife
  • she had jewels made of all the rarest stones

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gem, stone

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: crystal

Narrower terms: cabochon, opaque gem, transparent gem

History

Etymology

From Middle English gimstone, alteration (due to Middle English gemme) of earlier ȝimston, ȝimstan, from Old English ġimstān, ġymstān (“gem; jewel; precious stone”), equivalent to gem + stone. Compare Icelandic gimsteinn (“jewel; gem”), Faroese gimsteinur (“jewel, precious stone”).

Across languages

Translations

109 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: edelsteen — gem
  • Arabic: جَوْهَر (jawhar) — gem
  • Arabic: جَوْهَرَة (jawhara) — gem
  • Armenian: թանկարժեք քար (tʻankaržekʻ kʻar) — gem
  • Bashkir: аҫыл таш (aśıl taş) — gem
  • Belarusian: кашто́ўны ка́мень (kaštówny kámjenʹ) — gem
  • Belarusian: самацве́т (samacvjét) — gem
  • Bulgarian: скъпоце́нен ка́мък (skǎpocénen kámǎk) — gem
  • Burmese: ရတနာ (ra.ta.na) — gem
  • Catalan: pedra preciosa — gem
  • Catalan: gemma — gem
  • Chinese Mandarin: 寶石 /宝石 (bǎoshí) — gem
  • Czech: klenot — gem
  • Czech: drahokam — gem
  • Danish: ædelsten — gem
  • Dutch: edelsteen — gem
  • Esperanto: gemo — gem
  • Estonian: kalliskivi — gem
  • Finnish: jalokivi — gem
  • French: pierre précieuse — gem
  • French: joyau — gem
  • French: gemme — gem
  • Galician: pedra preciosa — gem
  • Galician: xema — gem
  • Galician: xoia — gem
  • Georgian: დაუმუშავებელი ძვირფასი ქვა (daumušavebeli ʒvirpasi kva) — gem
  • Georgian: დაუმუშავებელი პატიოსანი თვალი (daumušavebeli ṗaṭiosani tvali) — gem
  • German: Edelstein — gem
  • German: Juwel — gem
  • German: Kleinod — gem
  • Hebrew: אֶבֶן יְקָרָה (éven yekará) — gem
  • Hindi: मणि (maṇi) — gem
  • Hindi: रत्न (ratna) — gem
  • Hindi: पत्थर (patthar) — gem
  • Icelandic: gimsteinn — gem
  • Indonesian: batu akik — gem
  • Italian: pietra preziosa — gem
  • Italian: gemma — gem
  • Japanese: 宝石 (hōseki) — gem
  • Kazakh: асыл тас (asyl tas) — gem
  • Khmer: ត្បូង (tboung) — gem
  • Khmer: មណី (mĕəʼnii) — gem
  • Korean: 보석 (boseok) — gem
  • Kyrgyz: асыл таш (asıl taş) — gem
  • Lao: ພອຽ (phǭi) — gem
  • Lao: ມະນີ (ma nī) — gem
  • Lao: ຣະຕະນະ (ra ta na) — gem
  • Latin: gemma — gem
  • Latvian: dārgakmens — gem
  • Ligurian: prîa preçiôza — gem
  • Ligurian: gémma — gem
  • Lithuanian: brangakmenis — gem
  • Lombard: prèia preziósa — gem
  • Lombard: gema — gem
  • Macedonian: ска́поцен ка́мен (skápocen kámen) — gem
  • Malayalam: രത്നം (ratnaṁ) — gem
  • Malayalam: രത്നക്കല്ല് (ratnakkallŭ) — gem
  • Māori: pōhatu māpuna — gem
  • Norwegian Bokmål: edelstein — gem
  • Norwegian Bokmål: edelsten — gem
  • Norwegian Bokmål: smykkestein — gem
  • Norwegian Bokmål: smykkesten — gem
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: edelstein — gem
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: smykkestein — gem
  • Old English: ġimstān — gem
  • Old English: ġymstān — gem
  • Old Norse: gimsteinn — gem
  • Pali: මණි (maṇi) — gem
  • Pashto: غمی (ǧamáy) — gem
  • Persian: نگین (negin) — gem
  • Persian: گوهر (gowhar) — gem
  • Persian: گوهرسنگ (goharsang) — gem
  • Polish: kamień szlachetny — gem
  • Polish: klejnot — gem
  • Portuguese: pedra preciosa — gem
  • Portuguese: gema — gem
  • Romanian: piatră prețioasă — gem
  • Romanian: piatră nestemată — gem
  • Russian: драгоце́нный ка́мень (dragocénnyj kámenʹ) — gem
  • Russian: самоцве́т (samocvét) — gem
  • Sanskrit: मणि (maṇi) — gem
  • Sanskrit: रत्न (ratna) — gem
  • Serbo-Croatian: драгуљ — gem
  • Serbo-Croatian: dragulj — gem
  • Slovak: klenot — gem
  • Slovak: drahokam — gem
  • Slovene: dragulj — gem
  • Spanish: piedra preciosa — gem
  • Spanish: joya — gem
  • Spanish: alhaja — gem
  • Spanish: gema — gem
  • Swedish: ädelsten — gem
  • Tagalog: hiyas — gem
  • Tajik: чавхар (čavxar) — gem
  • Tajik: гавҳар (gavhar) — gem
  • Thai: พลอย (plɔɔi) — gem
  • Thai: จินดา (jin-daa) — gem
  • Thai: รัตน์ (rát) — gem
  • Tocharian B: wamer — gem
  • Tocharian B: naumiye — gem
  • Tocharian B: prāp — gem
  • Ottoman Turkish: جوهر (cevher) — gem
  • Ugaritic: 𐎑𐎅𐎗 (ẓhr) — gem
  • Ukrainian: дорогоці́нний ка́мінь (dorohocínnyj káminʹ) — gem
  • Ukrainian: кошто́вний ка́мінь (koštóvnyj káminʹ) — gem
  • Ukrainian: самоцві́т (samocvít) — gem
  • Uzbek: gavhar — gem
  • Vietnamese: đá quý — gem
  • Welsh: tlysfaen — gem