pearl
UK /pɜːl/ · US /pɝl/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms pearls pearling pearled
- noun Nacre; mother-of-pearl.
- noun (by extension) A white color inspired by the shade of pearls.
- noun (figuratively) Something precious.
- noun A capsule of gelatin or similar substance containing liquid for, e.g., medicinal application.
- noun A whitish speck or film on the eye.
- noun A fish allied to the turbot; the brill.
- noun A light-colored tern.
- noun One of the circle of tubercles which form the bur on a deer's antler.
- verb (transitive, sometimes figurative) To set or adorn with pearls, or with mother-of-pearl.
- verb (transitive) To cause to resemble pearls in shape; to make into small round grains. “to pearl barley”
- verb (transitive) To cause to resemble pearls in lustre or iridescence.
- verb (intransitive) To resemble pearl or pearls.
- verb (intransitive, of a liquid) To bead; to form droplets.
- verb (intransitive) To hunt for pearls “to go pearling”
- verb (intransitive, surfing) To sink the nose of one's surfboard into the water, often on takeoff.
- verb (intransitive, surfing) Of the nose of the surfboard: to sink in this manner.
- proper noun A female given name from English.
- proper noun (rare) A male given name from English.
- proper noun A surname from English.
- proper noun A major river in Guangdong, China; in full, the Pearl River.
Synonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English perle, from Old French perle of uncertain etymology. Probably via unattested Medieval Latin *pernula, from Latin perna (“haunch; a marine bivalve shaped like a leg of lamb”) but also derived from Medieval Latin perla, from Latin perula (“little bag”). Its typographic use follows the name given by Jean Jannon to the type used in his miniature editions of Vergil, Horace, & the New Testament in the 1620s, which were the smallest printed works to his time. Its surfing use derives from the supposed resemblance to pearl diving.
* (river in China): From Chinese 珠江 (Zhūjiāng, Zyu1 Gong1, “Pearl River”); calque of Chinese 珠 (zhū, zyu1, “pearl”).
* (haven in Hawaii): From Hawaiian Wai Momi (“pearl water”); calque of Hawaiian momi (“pearl”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A fringe or border. [Obs.] --v. t.
- noun To fringe; to border. [Obs.] See Purl. Pearl stitch. See Purl stitch, under Purl.
- noun A shelly concretion, usually rounded, and having a brilliant luster, with varying tints, found in the mantle, or between the mantle and shell, of certain bivalve mollusks, especially in the pearl oysters and river mussels, and sometimes in certain univalves.
- noun Hence, figuratively, something resembling a pearl; something very precious.
Etymology [OE. perle, F. perle, LL. perla, perula, probably fr. (assumed) L. pirulo, dim. of L. pirum a pear. See Pear, and cf. Purl to mantle.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pearl”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details