pearl

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pɜːl/ (UK); /pɝl/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English perle, borrowed from Old French perle and Medieval Latin perla, of unknown origin,^[2][3][4] perhaps from Vulgar Latin *pernula, a diminutive of Latin perna (“ham, haunch; in Sicily, a sea mussel”), from the leg-of-mutton shape of the shell.^[3][2][5][6] Other theories connect it with pear or with Latin pilula, a globule.^[3] The usual Latin word was margarita.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A lustrous concretion formed in a mollusc's shell: before 1259 in the OED, before 1349 in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline;^[7][2][3] as a surname from the mid-13th century.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Something especially precious or the finest of its kind is from the 14th century,^[3][7] and something small, round and glistening from the mid-15th century.^[3] Word Origins notes that the Romans greatly prized freshwater pearls, and that Britain's reputation as a source of them was one motive for the Roman invasion.^[5] Pearls before swine comes from Matthew 7:6.^[3] The verb, to adorn with pearls, is late 14th-century,^[3] and to form drops like pearls from the 1590s.^[3] An artificial pearl is from 1638.^[7]

Timeline

• before 1259 – a pearl.^[7]
• 14th century – something precious.^[7][3]
• mid-15th century – something round and glistening.^[3]
• 1638 – artificial pearl.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A hard, lustrous, usually white or bluish-grey ball formed inside the shell of an oyster or other mollusc, valued as a gem.
2. Something very valuable or the finest of its kind.
3. Mother-of-pearl.
4. A pale bluish-grey or white colour.

Verb

1. To form pearl-like drops.

Word family

• pearler
• pearlish
• pearllike
• impearl
• pearlash
• pearlfish
• pearlized
• pearlescent

Related words

• pearly
• margarite
• nacre

Usage notes

A separate pearl, a small loop in lace, is an alteration of purl (1542).^[4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press