mother-of-pearl
mother-of-pearl · mother-of-pearls
перламутр
перламутр
Perlmutt, Perlmutter
The hard pearly inner layer of certain mollusk shellsThe hard pearly inner layer of certain mollusk shells; nacre.
/ˌmʌðəɹ əv ˈpɜː(ɹ)l/
Meaning
3 senses(countable, uncountable)The hard pearly inner layer of certain mollusk shells; nacre.
Perlmutt, Perlmutter
перламу́трperlamútr
перламу́трperlamútr
the iridescent internal layer of a mollusk shell
(countable, uncountable)A butterfly of the genus Salamis.
(countable, uncountable)A butterfly of the species Patania ruralis.
Translations
9 languagesУкраїнська
By meaning 1
pearly layer:
Русский
By meaning 1
pearly layer:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
pearly layer:
Origin
Calque of Latin māter perlārum, with the first element perhaps connected in popular imaginCalque of Latin māter perlārum, with the first element perhaps connected in popular imagination with obsolete mother (“dregs”). Possibly referring to the fact that the nacre-lined shells are the belly (“mother”) in which pearls are produced.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: mother-of-pearlsSynonyms
1 synonymsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable