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JADE (1),
a sorry nag, an old woman. (Unknown) M. E. jade (MS. Iade),
Chaucer, C. T. 14818. The same as Lowland Sc. yad, yaud,
North of Eng. yaud, a jade. Of unknown origin; perhaps
connected with Du. jagen, to hunt, chase, drive, ride, jagten, to
hurry, jagt, the chase. Cf. Low G. jagd, a chase,
crowd of people, Bremen Wörterb. ii. 683; Dan. jage, G. jagen, to chase; see
Yacht.
¶ The use of Lowland Sc.
y shews that the word is probably
Teutonic. Mr. Wedgwood's etymology, from Span. ijadear, to pant
(from ijada, the flank, which is from Lat. ilia, the groin), is
improbable. Der. jade, vb. to tire, spurn, Antony, iii. I. 34. JADE
(2), a hard dark green
stone. (Span.,—L.) In Bailey's Dict., vol. ii. ed.
1731. Cf. F. jade, jade; Ital. iada (Florio, 1598).—Span.
jade, jade; formerly piedra de ijada, because supposed to cure a pain in the
side.—Span. ijada, flank, pain in the side.—Lat. ilia, pl. the
flank. (M. Müller, in The Times, Jan. 15, 1880). [†]
ADDENDA JADE
(1), a sorry nag, an old woman (Scand.) In Chaucer, as cited,
the MSS. have Iade. Here the I rather represents y
than j, as the word is certainly the same as the Lowl. Scotch yad,
yade, yaid, yaud, a jade. Jamieson gives yad as the form
in Ramsay's Scot. Prov. p. 42; yaid in Dunbar's Poems, yade in
Ritson's S. Songs, i. 197; and yaud as a common mod. form. Yaud
seems the best form, as an l has been lost, and it stands for yald.—Icel.
jalda, a mare. Cf. Prov. Swed. jäldä, a mare (Rietz).
Origin obscure; perhaps related to Geld. Cf. also Icel.
jálkr, a
gelding, Norweg. gielk, the same; Prov. Swed. jälk, a stallion;
Norweg. gjelka, jalka, to geld. JADE
(2). Max Müller's letter says: 'The jade brought from
America was called by the Spaniards piedra de yjada [or ijada], because for a
long time it was believed to cure pain in the side. For similar
reasons it was afterwards called lapis nephritis, nephrite, &c.
This ijada became jada by loss of initial i, and lastly jade, the present Span.
form.' Phillips (1706) has: 'Nephriticus lapis, a sort of
green stone brought from the Indies and Spain, which is used in Nephritick
Pains.' Nephritic is from Gk.
νεφρῖτις, disease in the kidneys;
from
νεφρός, kidney.
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