mother-of-pearl
English
editEtymology
editCalque of Latin māter perlārum, with the first element perhaps connected in popular imagination with obsolete mother (“dregs”).[1] Possibly referring to the fact that the nacre-lined shells are the belly (“mother”) in which pearls are produced.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editmother-of-pearl (countable and uncountable, plural mother-of-pearls)
- The hard pearly inner layer of certain mollusk shells; nacre.
- 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Another London Life”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 170:
- Ah, those Indian warehouses made the morning pass in a charming manner! many a soft confession was whispered over a huge china jar; many a heart has succumbed to a suite of mother-of-pearl card-box and counters; and as to the shawls, why, the whole feminine world has long ago acknowledged them to be irresistible.
- A butterfly of the genus Salamis.
Alternative forms
editSynonyms
editTranslations
editpearly layer
|
Adjective
editmother-of-pearl (not comparable)
- Made from or looking like mother-of-pearl; iridescent or pearly.
See also
editReferences
edit- “mother-of-pearl”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
- “mother-of-pearl”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- "mother-of-pearl" in On-line Medical Dictionary, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1997–2005.
- "mother-of-pearl" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “mother-of-pearl”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Categories:
- English terms calqued from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English multiword terms
- English terms with quotations
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- en:Gems
- en:Nymphalid butterflies