bauble

1 a mock scepter carried by a court jester

2 cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing [syn: bangle, gaud, gewgaw, novelty, fallal, trinket]

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔːbəl

Noun

1. A cheap showy ornament piece of jewellery; a gewgaw.
2. A club or sceptre carried by a jester.
3. A small shiny spherical decoration, commonly put on Christmas trees.

Translations

• ttbc French: babiole
• ttbc Spanish: decoracion de navidad

A bauble was originally a stick with a weight attached, used in weighing a child's toy, but especially the mock symbol of office carried by a court jester. This was a baton terminating in a figure of Folly with cap and bells, and sometimes having a bladder fastened to the other end. Subsequently it became a term for any triviality or childish folly.

More recently the term means a virtually worthless decorative object. It has particular application to a Christmas ornament.

References

a continental, a curse, a damn, a darn, a hoot, agate, bagatelle, ball, baseball bat, bat, battledore, bean, bibelot, bit, blocks, brass farthing, bric-a-brac, button, cent, checkerboard, chessboard, club, cockhorse, cricket bat, cue, curio, dido, doll, doll carriage, farce, farthing, feather, fig, fleabite, folderol, fribble, frippery, gaud, gewgaw, gimcrack, golf club, hair, halfpenny, hill of beans, hobbyhorse, jack-in-the-box, jacks, jackstones, jackstraws, jest, joke, kickshaw, knack, knickknack, knickknackery, marble, marionette, mig, minikin, mockery, molehill, novelty, ornament, paper doll, peppercorn, picayune, pick-up sticks, pin, pinch of snuff, pinprick, pinwheel, plaything, puppet, racket, rag doll, rap, red cent, rocking horse, row of pins, rush, shit, snap, sneeshing, sou, sport, steelie, straw, taw, teetotum, top, toy, toy soldier, trifle, trinket, triviality, tuppence, two cents, twopence, whatnot, whim-wham