Other forms: gemstones
A gemstone is a stone valuable enough to be cut and set. A precious gemstone, set the gemstone, gemstone quality.
Value comes from hardness, colour and rarity together, which is why a flawless quartz is worth little and a small ruby a great deal. Most on sale have been heated or treated, and disclosure of that is a trade requirement.
1noungemstoneA stone valuable enough to be cut and set.
“The ring was set with a deep red gemstone that caught the light.”
gemstone is a stone.
Old English gimstan is gem, from Latin gemma, a bud or jewel, plus stone.
Old English
ġimstān, ġymstān — gem; jewel; precious stone
Middle English
gimstone
English, today
gemstone
From Middle English gimstone, alteration (due to Middle English gemme) of earlier ȝimston, ȝimstan, from Old English ġimstān, ġymstān (“gem; jewel; precious stone”), equivalent to gem + stone. Compare Icelandic gimsteinn (“jewel; gem”), Faroese gimsteinur (“jewel, precious stone”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA