bijou

jewel, piece of jewellery

noun bee-ZHOO Rare

Also means

gem, treasure (figurative)

Usage Note

Bijou has the irregular plural bijoux (ending in -x, not -s) — it is one of the classic French nouns in this group alongside genou, caillou, chou. La bijouterie is a jeweller's shop or the craft of jewellery-making. In informal speech, calling something un bijou is a term of endearment meaning a little gem.

Examples

"Elle porte un bijou en or."

Natural Translation

She is wearing a gold piece of jewellery.

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