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jade

/d͡ʒeɪd/noun, adjective, verb

jade is spelled J-A-D-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.0 times per million words in written English, the 9,878th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Jade, the name). As a noun, jade means “A semiprecious stone, either nephrite or jadeite, generally green or white in color, often used for carving figurines” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of jade is jades.

How many letters and syllables are in jade?

Letters4: J-A-D-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing6.0 times per million words; the 9,878th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is jade?

Jade appears 6.0 times per million words in written English, the 9,878th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Jade, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce jade?

  • /d͡ʒeɪd/

Jade has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-jade.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of jade

  • jades plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • jading participle, present
  • jaded participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does jade mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A semiprecious stone, either nephrite or jadeite, generally green or white in color, often used for carving figurines.

  2. 2

    A bright shade of slightly bluish or greyish green, typical of polished jade stones.

  3. 3

    A succulent plant, Crassula ovata.

  4. 4

    A horse too old to be put to work.

  5. 5

    derogatoryA bad-tempered or disreputable woman.

adjective

  1. 1

    Of a grayish shade of green, typical of jade stones.

verb

  1. 1

    To fatigue, tire, or weary (someone or something).

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo treat (someone or something) like a jade; to spurn.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo make (someone or something) contemptible and ridiculous.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Jade in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchjade (gem), carne (horse too old to be put to work – see also nag)
GermanJade (gem), alter Gaul, Gaul, Klepper, Mähre (horse too old to be put to work – see also nag), jadegrün (color)
Portuguesejade (gem)
Spanishjade (gem), hastiar, hartar, agotar, enhastiar, enfastiar (to fatigue, tire, or weary – see also fatigue…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does jade come from?

Borrowed from French le jade, rebracketing of earlier l'éjade (“jade”), from Spanish piedra de ijada (“flank stone”), via Vulgar Latin *iliata from Latin ilia (“flank”). (Jade was thought to cure pains in the side.)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after jade