nacre en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈneɪkə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈneɪkəɹ/ (General-American)
- (UK) audio
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French nacre, from Medieval Latin nacchara, ultimately derived from Arabic نَقَّارَة (naqqāra). Doublet of nagara, nagada, naqareh, and naker. Also present in nacarat.
Meanings
-
(countable, obsolete, uncountable) A shellfish which contains mother-of-pearl.
The shell-fish called a Nacre, liveth even so with the Pinnotere, which is a little creature like unto a Crabfish[…].
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
-
(countable, uncountable) A pearly substance made mainly of stacked layers of aragonite and organic matter which lines the interior of many shells; mother-of-pearl.
On a little table of dark perfumed wood thickly encrusted with nacre, […]was lying a note from Lord Henry, and beside it was a book bound in yellow paper, the cover slightly torn and the edges soiled.
1891, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| nackir | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| nacker | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| nakir | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| naker | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| nacres | Number=Plur | lexicographic |