Pl. bijoux. [F. bijou (16th c. in Littré): prob. a. Breton bizou, formerly besou ‘ring with a stone’ (cf. Cornish bisou ‘finger-ring’ in 13th c.), f. Bret. biz, bez = Cornish bis, bys, bes, Welsh bys finger. See other conjectures in Diez, Littré, Scheler.] A jewel, a trinket; a ‘gem among works of art. Also attrib.
1838. Macaulay, Lett., in Trevelyan, Life (1881), 269. The bijou of his gallery.
1868. Miss Braddon, Dead-sea Fruit, II. i. 3. Owner of … the bijou house in Park Lane.
1876. Geo. Eliot, Dan. Der., III. xx. 154. The farthing buckles were bijoux.
