noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A small gastropod (Monetaria moneta, syn. Cypraea moneta) common in the Indian Ocean; its shell.
2. 2
   any of numerous tropical marine gastropods of the genus Cypraea having highly polished usually brightly marked shells wordnet
3. 3
   Any gastropod of the genus Cypraea; its shell. broadly, dated
4. 4
   Any gastropod of the family Cypraeidae; its shell. broadly

Synonyms

All synonyms

cowrymoney cowrieporcelainscallopshellshell money

Etymology

Mid-17th century, borrowed from Hindi कौड़ी (kauṛī).

Related phrases

bean cowriekernel cowriemeasled cowriemoney cowrienucleus cowriepanther cowriering cowrietiger cowrieturtle cowriewrinkled cowriemoney cowry

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.