Nacre
/ˈneɪkə/ noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A shellfish which contains mother-of-pearl. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"The shell-fish called a Nacre, liveth even so with the Pinnotere, which is a little creature like unto a Crabfish[…]."
- 2 the iridescent internal layer of a mollusk shell wordnet
- 3 A pearly substance made mainly of stacked layers of aragonite and organic matter which lines the interior of many shells; mother-of-pearl. countable, uncountable
"On a little table of dark perfumed wood thickly encrusted with nacre, […]was lying a note from Lord Henry, and beside it was a book bound in yellow paper, the cover slightly torn and the edges soiled."
Example
More examples"The shell-fish called a Nacre, liveth even so with the Pinnotere, which is a little creature like unto a Crabfish[…]."
Etymology
From Middle French nacre, from Medieval Latin nacchara, from Arabic نَقَّارَة (naqqāra). Doublet of nagara. Also present in nacarat.