Meanings
plural mother-of-pearls · alternative mother of pearl
- countableuncountableThe hard pearly inner layer of certain mollusk shells; nacre.
1 more example
Ah, those Indian warehouses made the morning pass in a charming manner! many a soft confession was whispered over a huge china jar; many a heart has succumbed to a suite of mother-of-pearl card-box and counters; and as to the shawls, why, the whole feminine world has long ago acknowledged them to be irresistible.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Another London Life”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 170
- not comparableMade from or looking like mother-of-pearl; iridescent or pearly.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinmāter perlārum
- Englishmother-of-pearl
Calque of Latin māter perlārum, with the first element perhaps connected in popular imagination with obsolete mother (“dregs”). Possibly referring to the fact that the nacre-lined shells are the belly (“mother”) in which pearls are produced.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πινάριον
- πινάριον (pinárion)pearly layer
Arabic عِرْق اللُّؤْلُؤ, زِلْف
- عِرْق اللُّؤْلُؤ (ʕirq al-luʔluʔ)pearly layer
- زِلْف (zilf)pearly layer
- زَلَف (zalaf)pearly layer
- صَدَف (ṣadaf)pearly layer
- أُمّ اللَّآلِئ (ʔumm al-laʔāliʔ)pearly layer
Bengali মৌক্তিক
- মৌক্তিক (mōuktik)pearly layer
Bulgarian седе́ф
- седе́ф (sedéf)pearly layer
Catalan mareperla
- mareperlapearly layer
Chinese Mandarin 珍珠母, 珧
- 珍珠母 (zhēnzhūmǔ)pearly layer
- 珧 (yáo)pearly layer
Czech perleť
- perleťpearly layer
Danish perlemor
- perlemorpearly layer
Dutch parelmoer
- parelmoerpearly layer
Estonian pärlmutter
- pärlmutterpearly layer
Finnish helmiäinen, satraappi
- helmiäinenpearly layer
- satraappibutterfly of genus Salamis
French nacre
- nacrepearly layer
German Perlmutt, Perlmutter
- Perlmuttpearly layer
- Perlmutterpearly layer
Greek φίλντισι
- φίλντισι (fílntisi)pearly layer
Hebrew דַּר
- דַּר (dar)pearly layer
Hindi सदफ़, सदफ
- सदफ़ (sadaf)pearly layer
- सदफ (sadaph)pearly layer
Hungarian gyöngyház
- gyöngyházpearly layer
Icelandic perlumóðir
- perlumóðirpearly layer
Indonesian indung mutiara, giwang
- indung mutiarapearly layer
- giwangpearly layer
Irish néamhann
- néamhannpearly layer
Italian madreperla
- madreperlapearly layer
Japanese 真珠層, 真珠母
- 真珠層 (shinjusō)pearly layer
- 真珠母 (shinjubo)pearly layer
Korean 진주층, 진주모
- 진주층 (jinjucheung)pearly layer
- 진주모 (jinjumo)pearly layer
Latvian perlamutrs
- perlamutrspearly layer
Lithuanian perlamutras
- perlamutraspearly layer
Norwegian Bokmål perlemor, kjerne
- perlemorpearly layer
- kjernepearly layer
Polish masa perłowa, macica perłowa
- masa perłowapearly layer
- macica perłowapearly layer
Portuguese madrepérola, nácar
- madrepérolapearly layer
- nácarpearly layer
Romanian sidef
- sidefpearly layer
Russian перламу́тр
- перламу́тр (perlamútr)pearly layer
Slovak perleť
- perleťpearly layer
Spanish nácar, madreperla
- nácarpearly layer
- madreperlapearly layer
Swedish pärlemor
- pärlemorpearly layer
Tagalog nakar, inamperlas
- nakarpearly layer
- inamperlaspearly layer
- bingapearly layer
Turkish sedef
- sedefpearly layer
Ukrainian перламу́тр
- перламу́тр (perlamútr)pearly layer
Urdu صَدَف
- صَدَف (sadaf)pearly layer
Vietnamese xà cừ
- xà cừpearly layer
Welsh cregynnem, mam y perl
- cregynnempearly layer
- mam y perlpearly layer
- nacrpearly layer
- perlogbutterfly of species Patania ruralis
Yiddish פּערל־מוטער
- פּערל־מוטער (perl-muter)pearly layer
Cite this entry
mother-of-pearl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mother-of-pearl
“mother-of-pearl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mother-of-pearl. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mother-of-pearl,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mother-of-pearl.
Source: mother-of-pearl on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.