gem means A precious stone, usually of substantial monetary value or prized for its beauty or shine. It carries an Arena rating of 1478, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, gem ranks #1,666 of 17,052 for Most Elegant Words, #2,190 of 17,052 for Most Vivid Words, #2,503 of 17,052 for Most Whimsical Words, #2,866 of 17,052 for Most Beautiful Words.
gem is pronounced /d͡ʒɛm/.
Why “gem” is a great word
A precious stone, especially one cut and polished for use as an ornament, or by extension, any person or thing of great beauty or value. From Middle English gemme, from Old English ġimm and Old French gemme, both from Latin gemma ("bud, jewel"). Unlike a "jewel," which is the stone captured in a setting, or a "rock," which is all brute, unremarkable matter, a gem is potential and essence—the latent splendor within the mineral dark. It is the cold, precise fire in a faceted sapphire; the milky, internal glow of a moonstone; the deep, vegetative green of an emerald that seems to have stolen its color from a forest's heart. We call the finest of things, and people, by this name not for their hardness, but for the light they refuse to keep.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English gemme, gimme, yimme, ȝimme, from Old English ġimm, from Proto-West Germanic *gimmu (“gem”) and Old French gemme (“gem”), both from Latin gemma (“a swelling bud; jewel, gem”). Doublet of gemma and Gemma.
noun
- A precious stone, usually of substantial monetary value or prized for its beauty or shine.e.g.“And on her head she wore a tyre of gold,
Adornd with gemmes and owches wondrous fayre,
Whose passing price vneath was to be told;”
- Any precious or highly valued thing or person.e.g.“She's an absolute gem.”
- Any precious or highly valued thing or person.; Anything of small size, or expressed within brief limits, which is regarded as a gem on account of its beauty or value, such as a small picture, a verse of poetry, or an epigram.e.g.“a gem of wit”
- Any precious or highly valued thing or person.; Internet content of good quality.
- A gemma or leaf bud.
- A geometrid moth of the species Orthonama obstipata.
- A package containing programs or libraries for the Ruby programming language.
- A size of type between brilliant (4-point) and diamond (4½-point), running 222 lines to the foot.
- A strong, dominating pitching performance.e.g.“2025, Associated Press, Crochet gets 1st career shutout and complete game as Red Sox beat Rays for 9th straight win by Associated Press,
He didn’t walk a batter in his 100-pitch gem”
- A native or resident of the American state of Idaho.
verb
- To adorn with, or as if with, gems.
name
- A ghost town in California.
- An unincorporated community in Indiana.
- A city in Kansas.
- A diminutive of the female given name Gemma.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- idahoan 66% match — Of or relating to the state of Idaho. vs gem →
- boisean 58% match — Of or relating to Boise, Idaho, United States. vs gem →
- camdenite 52% match — A native or inhabitant of any of the four Camden counties in the United States. vs gem →
- digbyite 51% match — A native or inhabitant of Digby. vs gem →
- bendite 50% match — A person from or resident of Bend, Oregon. vs gem →
- arkie 49% match — A native or resident of the state of Arkansas in the United States of America. vs gem →
- vermonter 49% match — A native or resident of the state of Vermont in the United States of America. vs gem →
- edomite 49% match — A person descended from Esau (Edom). vs gem →