semi-precious

adjective

Somewhat precious or valuable.

OriginEnglish precious ← Latin sēmi- ← Proto-Indo-European *sēmi →
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Meanings

adjectivesemi-precious (not comparable)

alternative semiprecious

  1. not comparableSomewhat precious or valuable.

    This semiprecious stone, which resembles green glass, has gemlike qualities and is often used in jewelry.

    2009, Simon Cox, Decoding The Lost Symbol, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 156

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sēmi
  3. Latinsēmi-
  4. Englishsemi-
  5. Englishprecious
  6. Englishsemi-precious

From semi- + precious.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian полускъпоценен
  • полускъпоценен (poluskăpocenen)sort of or somewhat precious or valuable
Finnish puolijalo, arvokas
  • puolijalosort of or somewhat precious or valuable
  • arvokassort of or somewhat precious or valuable
  • arvo-sort of or somewhat precious or valuable
German halbedel
  • halbedelsort of or somewhat precious or valuable
Italian semiprezioso
  • semipreziososort of or somewhat precious or valuable
Polish półszlachetny
  • półszlachetnysort of or somewhat precious or valuable
Russian полудрагоце́нный
  • полудрагоце́нный (poludragocénnyj)sort of or somewhat precious or valuable
Spanish semiprecioso
  • semipreciososort of or somewhat precious or valuable
Welsh lled-werthfawr
  • lled-werthfawrsort of or somewhat precious or valuable
Cite this entry
APA

semi-precious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semi-precious

MLA

“semi-precious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semi-precious. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “semi-precious,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semi-precious.

Source: semi-precious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.