Dictionary

Pearl en · PROPN

Etymology

From pearl. * (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”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A unisex given name from English. ▸ A female given name from English.
   • Her Pearl!—For so had Hester called her; not as a name expressive of her aspect, which had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre that would be indicated by the comparison. But she named the infant "Pearl," as being of great price,—purchased with all she had,—her mother's only treasure! 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Chapter VI”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
   • "What was your name?" "Pearl." Ruby and Pearl, mother and daughter. "It's an ugly name, isn't it?" "No, it isn't". And I meant it, it wasn't. "Old-fashioned, perhaps, but nice." She stared at me. "Do you know what pearls are? They're ugliness: dirt or sand gets in an oyster and the oyster coats it over so that it won't be irritating." 1992, Karen Kijewski, Kat's Cradle, page 7:
2. (countable, rare, uncountable) A unisex given name from English. ▸ A male given name from English.
3. (countable, uncountable) A surname from English.
4. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ A major river in Guangdong, China; in full, the Pearl River.
   • The only news of interest brought by the Calcutta and China mail is that the river Pearl, in Southern China, had been explored by a party of the British to the distance of 195 miles. 1859 April 30, “Review of the Week.”, in The Leader, volume X, number 475, page 547, column 3:
   • During these ten years the northern province of Chihli, with a population of over 32,000,000, has been inundated thrice; the Huai River running through three central provinces, with people more in number than half those of the United States, overflowed twice; the two provinces of Hunan and Kiangsi, south of the Yangtsze River, likewise densely populated, have also been inundated twice, and Shantung Province, with its teeming millions, has had its territory flooded from the outbreak of the Yellow River; while the southern rivers, the Pearl in Kwangtung Province, the Min in Fukien Province, and other streams have, during the period, more than once contributed their toll of destruction. 1928 April, M. T. Liang, “Combatting the Famine Dragon”, in News Bulletin, Institute of Pacific Relations, page 9:
   • The Pearl is a river system in southern China. 2021, John Reibetanz, Earth Words: Coversing with Three Sages, →ISBN, →OCLC, page https://books.google.com/books?id=LPcrEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT174:
5. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Short for Pearl River (Etymology 2): a river in Mississippi and Louisiana, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico,
   alt of Pearl River
6. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Ellipsis of Pearl Harbor: a harbor in Oahu, Hawaii, United States, in the Pacific Ocean.
   alt of Pearl Harbor

Forms

Deriveds

Pearline