PEARL
What does "PEARL" mean?
A hard, lustrous round gem formed inside the shell of an oyster or mollusk.
Meanings
- A smooth, rounded, iridescent object formed within a mollusk and prized as a gem. A single pearl hung on a thin silver chain.
- Something rare, precious, or admirable; a thing of great value. Her grandmother dropped pearls of wisdom over tea. figurative
- A pale, slightly bluish or creamy whitish color. The walls were painted a soft pearl gray.
Did you know?
- A pearl is an oyster's defense: it coats an irritant lodged inside its shell with layer after layer of nacre, the same iridescent material that lines the shell itself.
Word origin
From Latin 'perna' (sea mussel, ham-shaped shell) or 'pirula' (little pear), via Old French 'perle' into Middle English.
Remember it
PEARL: Pretty Egg-shaped And Rounded Lustre - hidden in an ugly shell.
A little poem
A grain of grit, an injury, a wound-
the oyster answers it with patient pale.
Some hurts, given time, come out as round.
tercet
Wordplay
- Why did the oyster refuse to share its pearl? It said it had worked too many layers to give up its only nest egg.
What it teaches
Beauty can be the body's answer to an injury it could not expel; cover your grit slowly enough and it shines.
Quick facts
What does PEARL mean?
A hard, lustrous round gem formed inside the shell of an oyster or mollusk.
Is PEARL a valid word?
Yes — PEARL is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is PEARL?
PEARL has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does PEARL come from?
From Latin 'perna' (sea mussel, ham-shaped shell) or 'pirula' (little pear), via Old French 'perle' into Middle English.
What can PEARL teach us?
Beauty can be the body's answer to an injury it could not expel; cover your grit slowly enough and it shines.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.