Bijou
adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A jewel.
- 2 a small and delicately worked piece wordnet
- 3 A piece of jewelry; a trinket.
- 4 A small intricate piece of metalwork.
"[…]a saucepan on the hob, and a brazen bijou over the fireplace designed for the suspension of a roasting-jack."
- 1 Small; little. Polari
"You may have vada'd one of our tiny bijou masterpiecettes, heartface."
- 2 Small and elegant.
"I soon found Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open."
- 3 Intricate; finely made.
Example
More examples"[…]a saucepan on the hob, and a brazen bijou over the fireplace designed for the suspension of a roasting-jack."
Etymology
Borrowed from French bijou.
Borrowed from Sabir bijou, ultimately from Occitan pichon (“small, little”), influenced by English bijou (“jewel”).