precious stone
6
3.4
- noun
- /ˈprɛʃəs stoʊn/
:
piedra preciosa
- The jeweler displayed an exquisite collection of precious stones in the shop window.
- gold and precious stone
- precious stone and silver
- precious stone and metals
Examples
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I'm a licensed broker of precious stones.
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The second treasure was a chest filled with precious stones, which the couple sold.
Fiction book (2000) -
A silver cup with precious stones.
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It's an old silver skull with precious stones for the eyes.
-
Do you see all the precious stones and jewels?
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Gold, silver, pearls and precious stones.
-
A fine setting and workmanship usually mean precious stones.
Fiction book (1990) -
The pattern of its binding was a knot garden, planted with precious stones and set around a silver fountain.
Fiction book (1993) -
The vividness of color here is astounding: brilliant, intense, like the colors of precious stones.
Blog text (22) -
When the mummy itself was finally unwrapped, over 143 pieces of jewelry made of gold and precious stones were discovered inside the bindings.
Synonyms
489
1.4
A very hard clear stone used in jewelry
157
1.8
A precious or less valuable stone cut and polished for use in jewelry
119
2.3
A smooth hard round jewel made inside an oyster
79
4.3
A deep red precious stone used in jewelry
75
4.5
A hard, shiny gem cut and polished for jewelry
47
1.3
A small valuable stone cut and polished for use in jewelry or decoration
23
4.0
A bright green precious stone used in jewelry
18
4.8
A precious blue stone used in rings or necklaces
15
3.3
A hard, shiny stone cut and polished for use in jewelry
Antonyms
1
3.6
A stone like amethyst or turquoise used in jewelry that costs less than diamonds
How Valuable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is a straightforward composition of 'precious' (valuable, rare) + 'stone' (a rock/gem), so the meaning 'a rare and valuable gemstone' is directly inferable from the constituents. The adjective+noun pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows ordinary compositional semantics, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
The phrase precious stone comes from a simple picture: people long ago called rare gems precious because they were very valuable, and they are literally pieces of stone that shine. That's why precious stone means a rare, valuable gem often used in jewelry.