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pearl

Pronunciation: /pɜːl/

The English word “pearl” has 20 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. Nacre; mother-of-pearl.
  2. A white color inspired by the shade of pearls.
  3. Something precious.
  4. A capsule of gelatin or similar substance containing liquid for, e.g., medicinal application.
  5. A whitish speck or film on the eye.
  6. A fish allied to the turbot; the brill.
  7. A light-colored tern.
  8. One of the circle of tubercles which form the bur on a deer's antler.
  9. A fringe or border.
  10. A valuable little nugget of information; especially, an aphorism or tip that is operationally useful for decision-making.
  11. The clitoris.
  12. Argent, in blazoning by precious stones.
  13. The size of type between diamond and agate, standardized as 5-point.
  14. A jewel or gem.

verb

  1. To set or adorn with pearls, or with mother-of-pearl.
  2. To cause to resemble pearls in shape; to make into small round grains.
  3. To cause to resemble pearls in lustre or iridescence.
  4. To resemble pearl or pearls.
  5. To bead; to form droplets.
  6. To hunt for pearls

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,…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.