nephrite
/ˈnɛfˌɹaɪt/
nephrite noun: a semi-precious stone, one of the two types of stone commonly referred to as jade (the other being jadeite).
Noun
nephrite (countable and uncountable, plural nephrites)
- A semi-precious stone, one of the two types of stone commonly referred to as jade (the other being jadeite).
- Occurrences of nephrite are more numerous. China’s most important source throughout its history has been the region of Khotan (Ho-t‘ien) and Yarkand in Central Asia. In more recent times the Chinese have also imported nephrite from the neighbourhood of Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia.1968, S. Howard Hansford, “The Material and Its Sources”, in Chinese Carved Jades, Greenwich, Conn.: New York Graphic Society Ltd., →LCCN, →OCLC, page 27
Forms of nephrite
| plural | nephrites |
|---|
Origin of nephrite
From Latin lapis nephriticus, via Ancient Greek λίθος (líthos) νεφριτικός (nephritikós), meaning kidney stone, because jade was believed to have cured kidney stones.
Questions about nephrite
- What does nephrite mean?
- Nephrite means a semi-precious stone, one of the two types of stone commonly referred to as jade (the other being jadeite).
- What part of speech is nephrite?
- Nephrite is a noun.
- How do you pronounce nephrite?
- Nephrite is pronounced /ˈnɛfˌɹaɪt/.
- What is the plural of nephrite?
- The plural of nephrite is nephrites.
Words near nephrite in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: nephrite (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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