pearly

Etymology

It is formed from English pearl + -y,^[2][3][4][5] and is first recorded in Middle English as perli,^[6][3] also perely and peerly.^[6][5][7] The OED thinks the sense used of sound probably follows French perlé in the same sense (1694).^[2] For the plural noun “the pearlies”, a nervous trembling of a string player's bowing hand, it suggests a link with purler, or a fancied likeness to the sound of a string of pearls falling on a hard floor,^[2] and the Shorter Oxford notes that it may have a separate source.^[4] Pearl is from Old French perle.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Like a pearl in shape, of dewdrops: before 1450, in a lyric that compares the lover's sighs to the "perly dropis" of May mornings.^[6][2] About 1475 Lydgate's Testament speaks of Aurora sending "perely dropis" of dew on the herbs.^[6] Etymonline dates the word to the mid 15th century, "resembling a pearl or mother-of-pearl".^[3]

Semantic evolution

The first use was of the round shape of a pearl, as of dew or tears; from 1596 the word described a pearl's lustre and pale colour,^[2][8] from 1605 things made of or set with pearls or mother-of-pearl; shells that produce pearls or have a nacreous lining follow in 1619.^[2] Johnson (1755) gave "abounding with pearls" first, with Milton's "pearly shells", and "resembling pearls" second.^[9] Poets also used it for something supremely precious or pure (1770),^[2][4] and in 1966 British colloquial speech used it for "fine, excellent".^[2] The pearly gates of heaven, from Revelation 21:21, are recorded from before 1618 in Sylvester's translation of Du Bartas,^[2] and Etymonline dates the phrase by 1708.^[3] In the late 19th century the noun pearlies was used for the clothes covered in pearl buttons worn by London costermongers (1890), and in 1917 it was first used of a costermonger dressed in them, a pearly king (1902) or pearly queen.^[2][4][5] Slang pearlies (1914) is short for pearly whites, the teeth.^[2][10] In Northumberland a pearly clod was a small, round, hard one.^[11]

Timeline

• before 1450 – round like a pearl, of dewdrops.^[2][6]
• 1596 – like a pearl in lustre or colour.^[2][8]
• 1605 – made of or adorned with pearls or mother-of-pearl.^[2]
• before 1618 – pearly gates, the gates of heaven.^[2] Etymonline dates the phrase by 1708.^[3]
• 1619 – producing pearls; nacreous.^[2]
• 1770 – poetic, supremely precious or pure.^[2]
• 1890 – noun, in the plural, clothes covered with pearl buttons; also of sound, smooth and clear in tone.^[2]
• 1902 – pearly king, a costermonger in such ceremonial dress.^[2]
• 1914 – pearlies, the teeth, short for pearly whites.^[2][10]
• 1960 – the pearlies, a nervous trembling of a string player's bowing hand.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Like a pearl or mother-of-pearl in lustre, colour or shape: pearly morning light.^{[5][12][4][2]}
2. Made of, containing or decorated with pearls or mother-of-pearl.^{[12][5][13][2]}
3. Highly precious; of great purity or worth.^[13][5][4]
4. pearly gates: the gates of heaven.^[4][2][3]
5. pearly king, pearly queen: a London costermonger, or his wife, in ceremonial clothes covered with buttons of pearl.^[4][2]

Adverb

1. In a way that suggests a pearl in lustre or colour: pearly grey silk.^[5][4]

Noun

1. (British) pearlies: clothes decorated with pearl buttons, as worn by costermongers on special occasions; also, a costermonger who wears them.^[5][2][4]
2. (slang) pearlies: the teeth; short for pearly whites.^[2][4]

Word family

• pearliness
• pearly gates

Related words

• pearl

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
12. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
13. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster