bijou : M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for February 17 is:

bijou \BEE-zhoo\ noun
*1 : a small dainty usually ornamental piece of delicate workmanship : jewel
2 : something delicate, elegant, or highly prized

Example sentence:
Some jewelers believe that women who buy their own bijoux are the next growth market.

Did you know?
"Bijou" (which can be pluralized as either "bijoux" or "bijous") has adorned English since the late 17th century. We borrowed it from French, but the word ultimately traces to Breton, a Celtic language (one closely related to Cornish and Welsh) spoken by inhabitants of the Brittany region of northwest France. Our modern English word derives from Breton "bizou," which means "ring." That history makes "bijou" a rare gem in English because, although the Breton people occupied part of England for many years before they were pushed into France by the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th and 6th centuries, very few Breton-derived words remain in our language (another Breton descendant is "menhir," a term for a prehistoric monument).

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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