Jade Jade Jade refers to an ornamental mineral, mostly known for its green varieties. It can refer to either of two different minerals: nephrite, a silicate of calcium and magnesium, or jadeite, a silicate of sodium and aluminium. Jade is featured prominently in ancient Asian art, as well as having an important place in many other cultures. The English word "jade" is derived (via French "l'ejade" and Latin "ilia" "flanks, kidney area") from the Spanish term "piedra de ijada" (first recorded in 1565) or "loin stone", from its reputed efficacy in curing ailments of the loins and kidneys. "Nephrite" is derived
Theory of forms objects that imitate them. Though the forms are timeless and unchanging, physical things are in a constant change of existence. Where forms are unqualified perfection, physical things are qualified and conditioned. These Forms are the essences of various objects: they are that without which a thing would not be the kind of thing it is. For example, there are countless tables in the world but the Form of tableness is at the core; it is the essence of all of them. Plato's Socrates held that the world of Forms is transcendent to our own world (the world of substances) and