jewellery

English

Alternative forms

• jewelry (US, sometimes Canadian)

Etymology

From Middle English juelrye, from Old French juelerye, equivalent to jewel +‎ -ery.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: jo͞oʹ(ə)lrē IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒuː(ə)lɹi/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US also) enPR: jo͝oʹ(ə)lrē IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒʊ(ə)lɹi/
• (nonstandard) enPR: jo͞oʹ(ə)lərē IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒuː(ə)ləɹi/ (this pronunciation gives rise to the Cockney rhyming slang tomfoolery)

Noun

jewellery (usually uncountable, plural jewelleries)

1. Collectively, personal ornamentation such as rings, necklaces, brooches and bracelets, made of precious metals and sometimes set with gemstones.

   Synonyms: bling, bling-bling, (Cockney rhyming slang) tom, (Cockney rhyming slang) tomfoolery

   She had more jewellery ornamented about her than any three ladies needed.

   • 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Fate of the Artemis”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

     “ […] Captain Markam had been found lying half-insensible, gagged and bound, on the floor of the sitting-room, his hands and feet tightly pinioned, and a woollen comforter wound closely round his mouth and neck ; whilst Mrs. Markham's jewel-case, containing valuable jewellery and the secret plans of Port Arthur, had disappeared. […]”

2. (oil industry, informal) Any tools, instruments, devices, etc., placed within a drill pipe.
   • 2005, Paul Carter, Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, page 44:

     The rig simply retrieves the old pipe and runs a new pipe back in the hole (the completion string). Any special items on the string other than the pipe itself are referred to as "jewellery". These can be any number of things, from down-hole motors to mandrels and radioactive sources for survey purposes.

3. The shop from which a jeweller trades or makes jewelry

Synonyms

• see also Thesaurus:jewelry

Derived terms

• Jewellery Quarter

Related terms

• chewelry
• costume jewellery
• jewel
• jeweler, jeweller
• jewellery armoire

 

Translations

personal ornamentation

• Arabic: مُجَوْهَرَات f pl (mujawharāt)
• Armenian: ոսկեղեն (hy) (oskeġen)
• Assamese: গহনা (gohona)
• Bulgarian: бижу́та (bg) n pl (bižúta)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 首飾／首饰 (sau² sik¹)

  Mandarin: 首飾／首饰 (zh) (shǒushi), 珠寶／珠宝 (zh) (zhūbǎo) (precious jewellery)

• Cornish: gemweyth m
• Czech: klenoty m pl
• Danish: smykker n pl
• Estonian: ehted pl
• Finnish: korut (fi) pl
• French: joaillerie (fr) f, bijoux (fr) m pl
• Galician: xoia (gl) f, aderezo (gl) m
• German: Schmuck (de) m
• Greek: κοσμήματα (el) f pl (kosmímata) (pl. of κόσμημα (el) n (kósmima))
• Guaraní: jeguaka
• Hebrew: תַּכְשִׁיט (he) m sg (takhshítʿ), תַּכְשִׁיטִים m pl (takhshitʿim)
• Hindi: जेवर (hi) (jevar), जवाहरात (hi) (javāhrāt)
• Hungarian: ékszer (hu)
• Italian: gioielleria (it) f (for jewellery made of real gold, silver and gemstone), bigiotteria (it) f (for jewellery made of cheaper materials)
• Japanese: 装身具 (ja) (そうしんぐ, sōshingu), 宝飾品 (ja) (ほうしょくひん, hōshokuhin), ジュエリー (juerī)
• Korean: 보석류(寶石類) (boseongnyu)
• Lao: ຖະໜິມ (tha nim)
• Latin: ōrnāmentum n
• Macedonian: накит m (nakit)
• Malayalam: ആഭരണം (ml) (ābharaṇaṁ)
• Maori: whakapīwari, taonga whakarākei
• Marathi: दागिने ? (dāgine), दागदागिने ? (dāgdāgine), जडजवाहिर ? (jaḍajvāhir)
• Navajo: ílį́įgo naalyéhé
• Pashto: ګاڼه f (gānna), کالي (ps) m pl (kāli)
• Polish: biżuteria (pl) f
• Portuguese: joias (pt) f pl, joalheria (pt) f
• Romanian: bijuterii f pl
• Russian: ювели́рные изде́лия n pl (juvelírnyje izdélija), драгоце́нности (ru) f pl (dragocénnosti), бижуте́рия (ru) f (bižutɛ́rija), украше́ния (ru) n pl (ukrašénija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: на́кит m

  Roman: nákit (sh) m

• Slovak: klenoty m pl
• Slovene: nakit m
• Spanish: joyería (es) f, joyas (es) f pl, alhajas (es) f pl
• Swedish: smycke (sv) n
• Tagalog: alahas (tl)
• Turkish: mücevherat (tr), ziynet (tr)
• Ukrainian: прикраси f pl (prykrasy)
• Vietnamese: đồ châu báu, đồ nữ trang (for women), đồ kim hoàn
• Welsh: gemwaith m
• Yiddish: צירונג f (tsirung)