Precious
Middle English: from Old French precios, from Latin pretiosus ‘of great value’, from pretium ‘price’.
wiktionary
From Middle English precious, borrowed from Old French precios(“valuable, costly, precious, beloved, also affected, finical”), from Latin pretiōsus(“of great value, costly, dear, precious”), from pretium(“value, price”); see price.
etymonline
precious (adj.)
mid-13c., "valuable, of great worth or price, costly," from Old French precios "precious, costly, honorable, of great worth" (11c., Modern French précieux), from Latin pretiosus "costly, valuable," from pretium "value, worth, price" (see price (n.)).
The meaning "over-refined, fastidious" in English is by late 14c. From 16c. through 18c. it also had a secondary ironic (inverted) sense of "worthless." Precious metals (1776) "gold and silver (and sometimes platinum)" are those that are rare and costly enough to be used as a standard of value and abundant enough to be used for coinage. Related: Preciously; preciousness.
precious (n.)
"beloved or dear person or object," 1706, from precious (adj.). Since the "Lord of the Rings" movies, often with deliberate echoes of Tolkien.
