Meanings
plural pendeloques
- alsoattributiveA drop-shaped diamond or other gem used as a pendant; also, a piece of jewellery in pendant form.First known use 19th c.
The other forms given to faceted stones are not of sufficient importance to need description; the star-cut and the pendeloque may just be named as patterns sometimes followed in the cutting of diamonds.
1882, A[rthur] H[erbert] Church, “Cutting and Fashioning Precious Stones”, in Precious Stones: Considered in Their Scientific and Artistic Relations. […], London: Chapman and Hall for the Committee of the Council on Education, published 1883, →OCLC, page 232 more examples
[M]y eye was caught by the flashing of the emerald in my sister's ear, for she wore that day the suit of emeralds which had belonged to Jeanne de Consteil, who had married Raval de Pont de Vaux, which were of the brightest colour, and without flaw. A happy thought struck me; perhaps the urchin would exchange his draught for the pendeloque belonging to the ear-ring.
1850, “an ex-hanger on of royalty” [pseudonym], “Souvenirs of Versailles, St. Cloud, Neuilly, and the Tuileries”, in Bentley’s Miscellany, volume XXVII, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 176"For payment of 3,000 thalers by me due, I have sold to M. de Voltaire, at the price costing by estimation and tax, with 2 per cent for my commission" […] "the following Diamonds, taxed […] as here adjoined; viz."—seven pieces of jewelry, pendeloques, &c., with price affixed, […]
1864, Thomas Carlyle, “M. de Voltaire has a Painful Jew-lawsuit”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume IV, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book XVI, page 353
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)pend-“to stretch”
- Latinpendere
- Old Frenchpendeloche“penis”
- Frenchpendeloque“hanging object; religious medallion, probably in pendant form; jewel hanging from an earring; small crystal piece, especially one hanging from a chandelier”
- Englishpendeloque
Borrowed from French pendeloque (“hanging object; religious medallion, probably in pendant form; jewel hanging from an earring; small crystal piece, especially one hanging from a chandelier”) [and other forms], from Old French pendeloche (“penis”) (apparently a hapax legomenon), from pendeler (“to dangle”) + -oche (suffix forming nouns from verbs), with the ending possibly influenced by breloque (“charm for a bracelet”). Pendeler is derived from pendre (“to hang”) + -eler (frequentative suffix); and pendre from Latin pendere, the present active infinitive of pendeō (“to hang (down)”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to stretch”).
More words from French, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish pisara
- pisaradrop-shaped diamond or other gem used as a pendant; piece of jewellery in pendant form
French pendeloque
- pendeloquedrop-shaped diamond or other gem used as a pendant; piece of jewellery in pendant form
German Pendeloque, Briolette
- Pendeloquedrop-shaped diamond or other gem used as a pendant; piece of jewellery in pendant form
- Briolettedrop-shaped diamond or other gem used as a pendant; piece of jewellery in pendant form
Russian подве́ска
- подве́ска (podvéska)drop-shaped diamond or other gem used as a pendant; piece of jewellery in pendant form
Spanish pendeloque
- pendeloquedrop-shaped diamond or other gem used as a pendant; piece of jewellery in pendant form
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with pendeloque
Cite this entry
pendeloque. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pendeloque
“pendeloque.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pendeloque. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pendeloque,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pendeloque.
Source: pendeloque on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.