pendeloque

Meanings

1. A drop-shaped diamond or other gem used as a pendant; also, a piece of jewellery in pendant form.

Etymology

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”).